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I am not a big fan of the LDS Church’s holiday media campaigns that use formulated hashtags, although I am not a strong critic either. This year, however, I have seen a few “Give Thanks” Facebook posts from LDS friends that have brought a smile for their unorthodox authenticity. I have seen people use the hashtag (which we cannot use here to avoid issues that could arise) to express sincere thanks for things that normally would not be assumed to have been written by Mormons. For example:
Quote:I am thankful for available fact-checking at a time when so many people are spreading so much blatant disinformation.
Quote:I am thankful for worker-led unions.
Quote:I am thankful for the strength to end my temple marriage to my abusive husband.
Quote:I am thankful for what my LGBTQ+ children have taught me.
In that spirit, I am opening a thread for StayLDS participants to share their own “Giving Thanks” messages – orthodox or unorthodox. Again, just don’t use any hashtags in doing so.
[Also, no criticizing other comments. This is a thread for thanks only.]
I am thankful for my upbringing – and for experiences that expanded my understanding and allowed me to grow beyond that upbringing, including experiences that allowed me to leave behind elements of that upbringing that no longer were appropriate for each stage of my life. Mine would be fire fighters.. we had to have them on our street earlier this year. I am also grateful for this forum.
:thumbup: I’m grateful for the science and technology that has made dealing with this pandemic better than it would be without it. Technology has allowed many to keep jobs they would have lost had this happened 30 years ago. I’m grateful for my own health (which I’d kind of taken for granted) and for knowledge which allows to make the most of whatever amount of life I have left. [Admin Note]: This is not the place for objections to any examples of thanks, and the original examples only were posted to show examples of heterodox thanks. They were not included to say or imply they are good or bad. Again, this is a thread for thanks only, not objections to other people’s expressions of thanks.
I had to mull this for a while because there are a lot of things I am thankful for (and I had to self moderate any criticisms I might have of Pres. Nelson’s message itself or the campaign – I don’t do programs and I don’t do social media). -I am grateful that my wife and I have jobs that were not affected by the pandemic, that our income has been stable, and that we feel safe at our workplaces.
-I am grateful to those who have witnessed first hand the suffering of those afflicted by the pandemic and have kept on keeping on.
-I have had only one close relative who has been COVID positive as a nursing home resident and she is a survivor, for which I am grateful.
-I am likewise grateful that none of the rest of my family have been sick although some of my family live in areas where the virus is very widespread and spreading exponentially while local residents oppose things like wearing masks.
-I am grateful for home church and I hope it leads to some other permanent changes.
-Not directly related to the pandemic, I am grateful for where I am at in my own way of “living the gospel” and the help and support I have received here in that respect.
I generally like the social media campaign. I feel that my social media feed has become increasingly polarized and divisive. If everyone can together focus on giving thanks then there is much less room for other stuff. I am thankful for my employment that makes it possible for me to provide for my family and gives me the flexibility to be able to be there for important life moments along the way (especially important as my own father had employment that kept him far away for months at a time).
I am thankful for my wife and children.
I am thankful for our home that has been a refuge both literally and metaphorically during this last year.
In regards to StayLDS gratitude, I am especially thankful for the modern secular world we live in. In a previous time, my employment, social standing, friends and community (and in some unfortunate places and periods of the world even my life) might all hinge on my religious affiliation. Today, my family is blessed with multiple overlapping social circles. If we were to stop attending church we would probably lose some small portion of these community supports but our world would continue spinning largely unaffected.
This puts me in a position where I can CHOOSE to staylds because I want to and not because I am terrified of the consequences of not staying.
This is a simple list with multiple layers of meaning for me: – Family.
– Friends.
– Food.
I can’t enjoy any of them the way we use to before Covid 19.
I long for a better & healthier tomorrow for me, our families & our little “group” at StayLDS.
A few of the many things I’m grateful for: – My home is a safe place, physically, emotionally, and spirituality
– The ability to connect through technology to my family since I can’t see them in person right now. I’m especially grateful that the rules for missionaries communicating with their families changed in 2018. The new rules which allowed weekly text and video chats came out the week before my younger brother left on his mission. My siblings and I are all very close and I’ve been so glad to have the chance to see my brother’s face and hear his voice on a regular basis.
– While my provincial government has been ominously silent in response to the spiralling COVID cases in my area, I am grateful that both my boss and my stake presidency took initiative and shut down physical work and church meetings for the foreseeable future.
– I’m grateful for the effort my new Relief Society presidency has been putting into connecting with the ward. The presidency was organized a couple months ago, and they have all been actively reaching out to connect with the other women in the ward.
Hi Folks, This site provides meaningful social media for me as a place to contemplate life from different, valid perspectives in a positive way.
That being said, I wanted to write about things I am grateful for that will not make the traditional social media culture.
A) Unconventional Circumstances – one of the “I’m Thankful” posts that rolled into one of my social media feeds was a reminder that gratitude was a double-edged sword – for how much it provided unity and connection, it could also provide disconnect and trigger feelings of loss. I was reminded that this was an opportunity to be present to “mourn with those that mourn”.
A)
Groceries– This weekend, I managed win a grocery lottery (of sorts) that meant that my week’s groceries were paid for by the store. I did not know about that until I showed up to pick them up. While we had the budget to pay for our groceries (and I feel a little guilty accepting the money because I know that other families need it more then I do), I am still grateful for the groceries. 
Professionals– I am thankful for a wide variety of professionals who show up for my family. This includes a carpenter who has been helping with house repairs, a garage door company that kept in touch with reports on when our backlogged replacement garage door was ready and installed it the day it shipped in, a variety of teachers who meet us our our level to support us – including giving us access to materials we wouldn’t have otherwise, a counselor who truly celebrates our successes with us and “mourns with us” in our setbacks, a library that accepts food donations in lieu of overdue library fees. C)
Flexibility– We have an unexpected opportunity, even the expectation to figure out individual needs and how to meet those needs in less conventional ways – from schooling, working, church stuff, to managing the executive functioning of life. I firmly believe in the importance of giving thanks. Recognizing how fortunate you are is key to humility and happiness. It is a good thing to remind people to be thankful and I’m glad we have this holiday dedicated to gratitude. Unfortunately most of the examples of this “give thanks” thing going around social media have been underwhelming and/or condescending. I’d like it much better if gratitude wasn’t driven by a social media hashtag. Most of what I’m seeing are filtered selfies, people showing off their recent family photo shoot, and pictures of a new house with perfect landscaping. I cherish the examples of true gratitude for the small and simple things in life that are overlooked. I’m grateful for the mess that is my life because it means I’m still alive and have time to make things around me a bit better.
Jabraso wrote:
I cherish the examples of true gratitude for the small and simple things in life that are overlooked. I’m grateful for the mess that is my life because it means I’m still alive and have time to make things around me a bit better.
I have been thinking that in some ways COVID is stripping away all of the trappings that have grown up around thanksgiving. Is it really Thanksgiving if you do not do XYZ? What is at the heart of thanksgiving? Hint- I have been pondering analogies between covid and “the Grinch.”
Old-Timer wrote:
I am opening a thread for StayLDS participants to share their own “Giving Thanks” messages – orthodox or unorthodox.
I’m thankful for my upbringing in the Church.
I’m thankful for having been a missionary — particularly in my time and place.
I’m thankful for my experiences at BYU, where I met and married a woman of such kindness, intelligence, work ethic, drive and compassion.
I’m thankful for my family members who supported me through my Faith Crisis; both the believers and those who had left the Church.
I’m thankful for StayLDS for having given me hope in dark times, a place to talk with others to begin to find my way back to a Way, and ushering in a new phase of my Faith Transition.
I’m thankful for where my Faith Transition has taken me; for having found peace in a form of ‘spirituality’ rooted in Christianity without the need to be concerned with any ‘afterlife’.
I am changing job locations. Same job and same organization but different location. The new location is closer to home but larger and with a bigger hierarchical tree. Being closer is something I am looking forward to and for which I am grateful. FWIW, the way this change came about is because my old location is closing (nothing to do with COVID, we’ve knew about it pre-COVID). So while I really liked the old place and the people who I worked with there (and feel badly for those who are not fortunate enough to get something they wanted out of the deal) I am grateful for the closing because it made the move possible. That’s not really what I came to say though. My commute to my old location was 1 hour and 45 minutes each way, a little over half of which was highway. Depending on the time of year, I traveled in darkness at least one way most days (except mid summer). There are many deer where I live and commute. In the 3 and a quarter years I traveled there I did not hit a single deer. I had some close calls but never hit one. Most of the people I work with, who all had shorter commutes (although some were well over an hour), did hit at least one deer during that time. My boss (1 hour) got a twofer one year – when we decorated his Christmas stocking we put two reindeer on it. Likewise I had no mechanical difficulties either way, not even a flat tire. And while I did have a few very white knuckle very snowy trips, I was not involved in any crashes (I saw plenty though). Many people would count all this as blessings and I’m not going to discount that idea because it’s possible. But blessing or not, I am thankful for over three years of safe and generally happy commuting.
I’m very thankful for my membership in the church this year. I would have been horrifically isolated without it.
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