Thank Somebody

Mark Vernon is slightly perplexed by the philosophy of giving thanks.

Imagine one day you check your bank account and suddenly find $1 million in it. It's not a mistake. It's yours. But to whom to say thanks?

Theists are people who have discovered who's put the money in, and they can be thankful.

Atheists are people who conclude it's a glitch, and one for which they are glad, though they've no-one to thank.

Agnostics are people who spend the money trying to find out who is their benefactor!

Dale at Faith in Honest Doubt has some thoughts that relate to this.

Mostly I am thanking other people, on whose shoulders we all stand in so many ways, but I think there's a valid intransitive use of the verb to thank. It just refers to the way things are, and it's worthwhile to take a moment to be mindful of all the good in the world.