The words “Thanksgiving” and “health” don’t typically go hand in hand—not with all the stuffing and pumpkin pie and marshmallow-covered sweet potatoes making their rounds. But as it turns out, giving thanks is pretty healthy.
At least that’s what the scientists say. Check out this snippet from USA Today:
While it seems pretty obvious that gratitude is a positive emotion, psychologists for decades rarely delved into the science of giving thanks. But in the last several years they have, learning in many experiments that it is one of humanity's most powerful emotions. It makes you happier and can change your attitude about life, like an emotional reset button. Especially in hard times, like these.
I buy that, don’t you?
Most Christians claim a head start in this “giving thanks” arena, of course. We count our blessings all the time during prayer (even as we ask for some help for stuff that isn’t going so well). But sometimes we might get into a bit of a blessing “rut”—repeatedly thanking the Almighty for the obvious stuff, like family and friends and food and sunshine. We have so many obvious blessings in our lives that we forget to thank God for some of the, er, less obvious ones. Like the entertainment industry.
Plugged In, as many of you’ve noticed, is often critical of aspects of the entertainment industry. But does that mean it’s all just a big pile of dirty slush, not worth anything but a sneer and a thumb of the nose? Of course not! When I look at pop culture today, I see quite a bit of good stuff—or at least not bad stuff—out there. Let me tell you what I’m thankful for:
Happy endings. Most American movies are still remarkably optimistic. The world is saved. The guy gets the girl. The villain gets tossed in the clink. Sure, the morality of these movies can be hinky, but most movies still at least have morals (of a sort), and that’s something. For all our talk of whatever-floats-your-boat postmodernism, the fact that most films still have heroes and villains speaks to our inherent understanding that there are right ways and wrong ways to behave. Moreover, there’s a sense of cosmic justice in play here—that good really is stronger than evil, that nice guys can finish first.
Sad endings. Of course, we know the real world doesn’t always lend itself to “happily ever after” (unless we’re prone to look at things on a more eternal scale). This is a frail place we inhabit, filled with lots of fallible people and freakish disasters and tragedy. I think sometimes it’s good to be reminded that pain’s a part of life, and that things don’t always work out how we’d like them to. And yet, that, in the midst of that pain, we can find meaning and solace. And maybe we can find a little commonality—and comforting community—with some of those sad souls on screen.
“Christian” movies for the masses. Faith is a touchy subject. Little wonder that so many secular filmmakers tend to give religion and spirituality a wide berth. But this year, it seems, we’ve seen some surprisingly cogent messages of faith on the big screen, and not just from the likes of the Kendrick brothers’ Courageous. Consider Soul Surfer, the inspirational story of a surfer whose arm was bitten off by a shark. Or Jumping the Broom, a complex relational tale from megapastor T.D. Jakes. Or Warrior, a gritty story of redemption told in the confines of a mixed martial arts cage. Or The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick’s beautiful, dreamlike rumination on the nature of faith. Now, none of these films earned a clean bill of health from Plugged In. Many had loads of problematic content. But still, there were folks who’ve never heard of Plugged In who saw some of these movies … and perhaps the genuine spiritual musings proffered therein found a place to take root.
The FCC. Yes, the television landscape is growing coarser by the season, it seems. And yet we still live in a country where families are ostensibly protected from the f-word on network television. We should be thankful for this while we still can.
The Wii. I know there may be those out there who believe nothing redeeming can come from video games (we’ll actually have a video game pro-and-con argument on the blog in a week or two). But for me, some of the most fun I’ve had with my family this past year has been shooting baskets with Wii Sports Resort or boogying around to some songs in Just Dance 2.
Facebook. Personally, I’m not very good at updating my status or checking the status of others or even wishing my Facebook friends happy birthday. For those of you anti-Facebookers out there, I understand where you’re coming from. And yet, it’s really a treat for me to read what folks are saying on the Plugged In Facebook page. I’m floored by the diversity of readers we have out there—from those who threw out their televisions a decade ago to those who play video games until 2 a.m. And I’m so thankful that these diverse readers all find reason to check in with us every now and then and, hopefully, get a little bit of help or guidance from us. It’s an honor to be a part of so many families’ lives, and for that we’re quite grateful.
I could go on, but you’ve got a turkey to thaw, guests to greet and football to watch. And, of course, you probably want to compile your own list of things to be thankful for, too.
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