Wednesday Morning Rant

It's the most wonderful time of the year. I don't mean that with an ounce of cynicism or sarcasm. I love Thanksgiving and think it is probably our greatest holiday. Not that it is without its stresses and, of course, its expenses - regardless of what the propagandists at CNBC have to say. I am eyebrow-deep in those stresses and expenses, but c'est la vie. It's part of the package, and more than worth it.

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. Not that end-of-season harvest festivals are uniquely American, or that thanksgiving celebrations are uniquely American. They are not. But Thanksgiving as tremendous multi-day civic holiday is. We have one Thanksgiving Day, but it goes beyond that for most. It's always among the busiest - if not the busiest travel period of the year for a reason. It's a time when Americans come together and celebrate.

And there is always something to celebrate. Maybe you had a great year and have nothing but bounty to celebrate. Maybe you had a lousy year full of tribulations, as is distressingly common. But there is always something good worth acknowledging. When Lincoln founded our great national holiday, we weren't exactly sauntering through our salad days of joy and luck. We were a nation at war with itself, brother against brother. And yet, even then, there were things for which we could give thanks.

Thanksgiving is the most truly inclusive holiday on anyone's calendar. It is a universalist holiday, and a civic holiday. It is prayerful though not religious. It is national though not exclusive. It is not for some but not others. It is about one of the few common threads linking all men: gratitude, and the capacity for gratitude. It applies to and is for all of us. Thanksgiving is an American holiday through and through and is emblematic of our American culture. Whether one is an American by birth or an American by choice, this is our great time to celebrate what we have and who we are.

So the turkey came out dry or the cranberries were too tart (or not tart enough) or your blowhard cousin can't stop running his mouth or some drunk relative spills wine on the rug. Things can go wrong. Things can cost too much and be too much work. Regardless of the state of the world or the stresses or expenses of hosting or of travel or of being in close quarters or of having to work or being alone on the holiday, I sincerely hope everyone can find joy and reflect on his blessings - however numerous or sparse - during our great American celebration of gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving.

posted by Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM

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