ThanksLiving: A Thanksgiving Reading PlanSample

“Hostile dependence”—a phrase from the field of psychology—describes a relationship in which a person must depend on someone else but isn’t happy about it. There’s a tension. Maybe he or she does not like the person or simply the situation, but there is no option but dependence. Atheists feel the problem acutely. They dislike the idea of any dependence on a divine being. They reject the Giver of life. Many Christian workers feel something akin to hostile dependence when they think of fundraising. Though they don’t dislike the donors, they dislike their dependence on them for ministry. Sometimes, spouses, children, employees, and soldiers feel the tension as well.

The opposite of hostile dependence is grateful dependence. Grateful dependence is the essence of thanksgiving, which is especially appropriate in the case of a loving benefactor. Unfortunately, Christians sometimes try to find a middle ground between hostile dependence and grateful dependence, convinced that non-hostility toward God is the same as gratitude. Nothing could be more antithetical to the spirit of thanksgiving. We need to develop thanksgiving into an all-encompassing and active philosophy of living.