The annual celebration of Thanksgiving is more controversial than some might believe. It's not just turkey, football, and family gatherings. Some Native Americans resent this holiday since it prefigures the fall of their dominance on the North American continent, but that's a story for another time. Others hail it as the first proclamation of religious liberty, overlooking the fact that the Pilgrims in thier Calvinistic form of Christianity only wanted liberty for them-nobody else. Feminists have often decried it as the day when the women do all the work, and the men watch football games, drink beer, and pig out. All of these observations have merit, but that's not my association with the last Thursday of November.
Thanksgiving has always been for me a spiritual holiday, my favorite time of year (much less stress than Christmas or Ground Hog Day), a time of humility and gratitude for the many things we have. Of course, some spoilers will point out all that is wrong with the world and sneer, "What do we have to be thankful for?" Well, if you want perfection, be good, and when you die you might get into Heaven-until then, shut up. I have no patience with nay sayers and pessimists who claim to be realists when all they want to do is bring you down. Everyone has something to be grateful for, because there's always someone worse off than yourself.
Yes, every Thanksgiving brings us things to be grateful for, even if we have to search for them. I myself have been underemployed for three years and don't have the financial security I could want, but my best friend is crippled and unable to walk and he remains grateful for the good thigns he has. How dare I complain when I have so much?
Gratitude is not a silly sentiment; it's a mark of humility and maturity. So this November, let's try to spread some of that feeling around.
Okay, now pass me a beer, the games gonna start...
Happy Thanksgiving!
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