BLUF: Gratitude only makes sense if the world is personal. 

Explanation: If man is reduced to matter only (molecules in motion), then the idea of rendering thanks at Thanksgiving, or at any other time, is pure drivel. But because all people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), rendering thanks is the most appropriate action sentient creatures should demonstrate. 

The Bible’s Poetry Says It Best: Psalm 8 expresses this reality:

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[b]
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Takeaway & Encouragement: Gratitude is a virtue, near the top of the virtues, in fact, for good reason. It demonstrates the correct relationship between wisdom and humility. We render thanks because of benediction and also trials, knowing that behind both is the sovereign and holy God by whom all things exist and were created (Colossians 1:16). Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may it be rendered on each day, not just one Thursday a year.