Each Thanksgiving our family laughs about the sermon that turned us into a few muffled gigglers. It happened years ago, when our children were young and we were visiting at the community Thanksgiving church service.
 
The preacher kept repeating his favorite phrase: "This worship service is for more than Thanksgiving -- it is for thanksLIVING." The children continued to get tickled as he increased his volume each time he stressed the word, LIVING.
 
The best part of that memory is that it reminds me to look back to see if I have actually had a year of  thanksLIVING. Each day was God's gift. It was filled with sunlight, fresh air and the beauty of nature all around me. When the days were full of pleasure, good health, and abundant blessings, it was easy to experience the life of thanksLIVING.
 
But there are times when everyone remembers only troubles and it is so easy to ask of the Lord, "Why me?" Sadly, that can become our mindset. I believe the biggest hindrance to our thankfulness is our humanness. It is not an uncommon dilemma.
 
But when I study the background of the hymn, "Now Thank We All Our God," I am astounded to read of the composer, Martin Rinkart  He was living through years of bloodshed and suffering when he wrote the words. I am sure his grief was at times overwhelming. However, his faith helped him to move beyond his feelings. As a believer, he went to the Bible to find the reason for trusting in God's presence and comfort. 
 
Rinkart, a Lutheran minister, based the words to this great hymn on I Thessalonians 5:18, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
 
He lived in Eilenburg, Germany, and faithfully served his people throughout the troubling time of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Catholics and Protestants were in violent disagreement in the countries of central Europe and their battleground was Germany. Since Eilenburg was a city surrounded by walls, the refugee population grew rapidly. During the horrible plague of 1637, Rinkart had forty to fifty funerals a day. And one of those funerals was that of his own wife.