Thanksgiving is not just a holiday to celebrate with a festive feast. It holds deep spiritual meanings that remind us of the importance of gratitude, reflection, and connection. In this article, we will explore the spiritual significance of Thanksgiving and how it can be a transformative experience in 2022. Whether you are celebrating with family, friends, or even alone, understanding the spiritual aspects of this holiday can bring a renewed sense of appreciation and joy to your Thanksgiving festivities.
1. Gratitude as a Spiritual Practice
Thanksgiving was originally intended to be a day of prayer, a time for reflection and spiritual awareness. In fact, the first Thanksgiving in 1621 was a three-day spiritual festival to give thanks for the survival and success of the Pilgrims and their newfound relationship with the Wampanoag tribe.
Although times have changed, the emphasis on prayer has not. A 2018 Pew Research study found that nearly 80% of Americans believe in God, and those numbers seem to be trending upward. Yet in some respects, religion is also more divided than ever.
Religions in the U.S. may differ in rituals and specific beliefs, but at their core, they are united by one thing: Gratitude.
Research from sociologist Steffan Hew shows that gratitude is an essential part of religious and spiritual practice across all faiths. Gratefulness to God can serve as a constant reminder of faith and spirituality, regardless of where someone falls on the religious spectrum.
In other words, stressors are universal. The idea that there is something out there that can offer unconditional support in exchange for nothing more than reflective thought is a powerful one.
It’s important for people to feel connected or supported from a higher power. And for many people, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to reflect on that support and express gratitude in whatever way they see fit.
In addition to offering support through difficult times, gratitude in spirituality has been also been linked to mental health benefits. A study from the University of Utah found expressing feelings of thankfulness to a higher power reduces feelings of loneliness, with similar effects as expressing it to friends or family. In an era marked by increased stress and high levels of anxiety, practicing gratitude as a spiritual practice can offer much-needed background support.
2. Reflection and Self-Awareness
Thanksgiving is a time to spend with loved ones, reflect on our past year, and give thanks. It’s also a time for self-awareness and reflection.
Kristi Borst, founder of The Lotus and The Rose, tells Parade that practicing gratitude will bring you back to the present moment and help you do some self-reflection.
“When you think about what you are thankful for, it connects you back to the present. This may not feel like a huge deal, but how many hours of your life do you spend worrying? How many days are spent in the past or future or spent reliving a painful memory or focused on something negative? When you think about what has gone well in your life, it brings you back to the moment where it is going well. It stops your mind from moving to a problem or issue that needs solving or focus on a negative experience. If this becomes a practice, it begins to take up more space in your brain than the negative thoughts and then what happens is they become fewer and further between.”
It can help keep us in check when we start to take what is going well in your life for granted, she adds.
Mindfulness of this kind—being present and aware of your surroundings and current situation—acts as a little reset or a pause. You take a step back from what you were focusing on—positive or negative—and have a little perspective while reflecting.
This type of positive self-awareness isn’t just mindfulness. It’s also recognizing the reasons why you are grateful for something or someone.
Remembering why we are grateful for our friends helps us reconnect with them on a deeper level. You can understand the great things they bring to your life and reciprocate those themselves.
Borst adds that there is power in words, and when you give thanks for something using them, you start to create internal shifts in your mindset. Speaking those words during your Thanksgiving prayer can be very potent.
She explains that speaking those words can physically change your body’s response to stress and help manage your anxiety. Put simply, those three words can carry a lot of weight and really make a difference.
3. Cultivating a Heart of Compassion
Thanksgiving promotes an atmosphere of love and generosity. And through that, the holiday helps us develop into compassionate individuals who care about the well-being of others.
The compassionate nature of Thanksgiving encourages us to help our fellow man. Whether that’s by participating in food drives or volunteering at your local shelter, there are plenty of ways to promote this spirit of giving back.
What’s more, this practice isn’t limited to the holiday season. You can continue to extend acts of kindness and love in your everyday life. Whether that’s by showing support, lending a helping hand or simply being present for someone who needs you, a heart of compassion goes a long way.
Being compassionate also allows you to see others through a lens of grace. It lets you extend the same kindness and mercy to others that you would wish for yourself.
It gives you room to forgive, show patience and promote goodwill towards those around you. Not only does this promote peace in your personal relationships, but it ties in directly with the understanding and harmony that we mentioned in the previous point.
When we approach others with compassion, it creates a positive energy and an environment where people are willing to help one another.
In turn, showing compassion can have an impact on people outside your immediate social circle as well. It can inspire those around you and motivate them to extend the same level of kindness to others.
While doing this is important year-round, cultivating a heart of compassion is especially important right now. With everything going on around us, the world could use a little extra love.
In the face of division and adversity, compassion can be the change we wish to see in the world. By actively moving away from a place of judgment, we can work at living out this spiritual meaning and honoring the true purpose of Thanksgiving.
4. Family and Community Bonds
Families are often fragmented throughout the year. In smaller families, parents and children have to go to school, work, after-school programs and sporting events. Adults have their own individual schedules and commitments while older children might have their own jobs and responsibilities.
One of the spiritual meanings of Thanksgiving is to deepen these bonds and reunite families. Families come together at the dinner table to share food and conversation. They experience the togetherness that has been missing in their lives. Over time, this ritual becomes a shared memory that can be brought out during future holidays when they are again apart.
This can be extended to communities as well. People often become detached from each other as they go about their daily lives. Communities might become divided by race, income or political beliefs. One way to bridge this division is to create more opportunities for people of different backgrounds to come together.
Companies have been using food as a way to unite teams. Bonding activities that also encourage conversation can be helpful for breaking down walls between coworkers and creating more positive relationships. This is why Thanksgiving offers an ideal opportunity for team building.
Businesses can use Thanksgiving as a way to promote gratitude and foster a more inclusive environment. For example, you could host an inter-departmental potluck lunch where everyone brings a dish that represents their cultural background and share with each other. Another idea is to organize a workplace volunteer activity or fundraising event for a worthy cause.
These celebrations will allow everyone to see each other as individuals and learn about their own unique contributions to the company behind the typical job responsibilities they perform on a daily basis.
When people are being brought together in this manner, it helps them form stronger connections through shared experiences. And over time, these shared experiences can help you become more united as a group or family.
5. Remembrance and Ancestral Connections
The spiritual meaning of Thanksgiving connects you to ancestral spirits and reminds you to always remember where you’re coming from. The energy of your ancestors helps define who you are. It’s crucial to acknowledge them, not just on Thanksgiving but every day.
Thanksgiving comes at a time when the sun sign has changed to Sagittarius, the zodiac sign of travel and adventure. The energy of spiritual exploration is in the air, and it’s a perfect time to tap into your ancestral connections.
Use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to learn more about your roots. Speak with family members or do some research on your own. Connect with people from your native region and get a feel for how your ancestors lived. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t raised in that area; it’s part of your spiritual journey as well.
If this is your first Thanksgiving without a loved one, use their favorite foods and activities to connect with their spirit. They may not be there in person, but the spiritual meaning of Thanksgiving is also about remembering those who’ve passed on.
As the end of the year approaches, so does the spiritual season of giving. Some people like to give flowers or food to homeless people in honor of their deceased loved ones. There’s an understanding that this helps elevate their spirit in some way.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you’re alone or having a huge get-together. Whether they’re physically present or not, your ancestors are always watching over you, guiding and supporting you.
Use this opportunity to honor them during each step of the spiritual season. You can even use Thanksgiving as a chance to recognize your higher self. Take stock of every obstacle you’ve overcome in 2022 and every lesson you’ve learned. Celebrate those achievements and connect with those lessons as part of your ongoing spiritual path.
The 2022 Thanksgiving meaning encourages you to use this celebration as an introduction to the next phase of spiritual development over winter.
6. Giving Back and Serving Others
Another benefit of giving back that is not mentioned above is the fact that serving others and giving back to your community actually brings a great amount of joy and fulfillment to your life as well. While the main focus and reason should be on helping others, volunteering and giving back to your community also helps you to better your own life as well.
As humans, we have an innate need to belong. This means that we naturally want to be connected with other people and feel as if we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. When we give back, it not only allows us to create those connections with others, but it also allows us to be a part of something that is making a positive impact.
While it is you who is giving back, in reality you are gaining so much more than you could ever imagine. The power of service is unmatched. There is no greater feeling than being able to help someone in need.
Thanksgiving Day presents the perfect opportunity to get out there and give back in any way that you can. Whether it’s serving meals in a soup kitchen or simply lending a helping hand to a neighbor in need, there are so many different ways that you can put thanksgiving into action by giving back.
If you are interested in learning more about other ways to give back or simply looking for some inspiration, be sure to check out our list of 40 Random Acts of Kindness Ideas for You. While many of the ideas listed may seem small, it is often the smallest acts that lead to the greatest impact.
And if you truly want to make a difference in the movements and causes around the world, then I highly recommend reading our 13 Social Justice Books That Will Change Your World View. By reading up on these causes and keeping yourself informed and educated, you can make a world of difference for these communities from the comfort of your own home.
7. Harvest and Abundance
Thanksgiving and harvest festivals are deeply interlinked. The word “harvest” not only symbolizes the act of reaping what you sow but also the abundance of produce this act rewards you with. Thanksgiving is a time when Earth has finished yielding its bounties and gives us a time to reflect on a plentiful harvest.
In our natural world, autumn is the season of harvest. The Earth has paid off its “debt” in terms of sweat, sun, and soil to be able to yield its fruits. It is a time of abundance and good fortune for all things that draw sustenance from it.
For centuries, it has been the perfect time to stock up on food before winter sets in. Harvest season means that all the hard work put in during planting season has paid off and brings with it an air of satisfaction and plenty.
Furthermore, any leftover food can be stored to feed your household until the next harvest season. This is why thanksgiving can also be thought of as a time to show gratitude for abundance.
Harvest, in the spiritual sense, is about working hard as well. It requires planting good seeds, giving them ample sunlight and water, and tending to them through all seasons. Whether these seeds are of our physical lives or in terms of personal development makes no difference. The time and support put in during those tough stages will always lead you to an abundant harvest when it’s ripe.
Thanksgiving is also closely associated with being thankful for every morsel of food we get on our tables. It’s about understanding that thousands of hours pass before you can raise a fork to eat something that was once a seed. This symbolic practice encourages us to be thankful for every process we go through, whether they are good or bad.
8. Forgiveness and Healing
Maybe you still have a little resentment towards your Uncle for making a mean comment about your appearance. Perhaps you’re still holding a grudge because your cousin went behind your back or because your sister interrupted your conversation with a friend.
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to walk into the dinner room and leave all of those past transgressions in the past.
It’s the perfect time to forgive others.
As we gather around the table and eat our Thanksgiving meal, we are all also participating in a powerful act of forgiveness and healing. Forgiveness does not only mean saying you’re sorry, it means letting go of any negative connotation we may hold against someone else. It means recognizing the humanity and struggles within another person that led them to hurt us in the first place.
This can be so difficult to do, but it’s also one of the most important things we can achieve in our lives.
Forgiveness is not only good for you, but it’s also good for all of those around you. It promotes a culture of kindness and compassion. It encourages people to understand where another person is coming from. It makes every day life a slightly better place to be.
To take it even further, it can heal rifts that have been created in your own family or friendship circles.
In fact, research has shown that people who forgive others have lower levels of stress and depression. They are also able to build stronger relationships with others and have an improved physical health. And that’s just the beginning.
If you are someone who is struggling with forgiveness, though, don’t worry – you are not alone. It’s normal to face difficulties when it comes to letting go of your past hurts. However, there are many different strategies that you can use in order to make this process easier.
For example, talking about your feelings, educating yourself on how to forgive others and practicing empathy towards those who have hurt you can all help you learn how to let go of your anger.
Ultimately, though, it’s important to remember that forgiveness doesn’t come from others, it comes from within. You don’t need to wait for someone else’s apology in order for you to forgive them. Instead, focus on improving yourself and growing as an individual.
As we approach Thanksgiving in 2022, let us embrace the spiritual meanings behind this holiday. Let us give thanks not only for the material blessings we have but also for the spiritual growth we have achieved. Through gratitude, reflection, and connection, we can make this Thanksgiving a truly transformative and meaningful experience. May the spiritual significance of Thanksgiving continue to inspire us to cultivate an attitude of gratitude throughout the year.
