Wednesday Morning Non-Rant

Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to reflect on the good in our lives. The day to day can be dull or even pretty lousy and there will always be particularly bad days and personal disasters. In bad years, many days be will be of this type. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to take a step back and consider our blessings, even when we might otherwise forget that we have them.

Blessings are manifold, despite the tribulations. Thanksgiving is a holiday rooted in tribulation, from the informal celebrations of often hard-pressed colonists in early New England to its relatively recent form first proclaimed during the depths of war in 1863. It wasn't formalized in law until just before WWII, but by then it was a formality (though it did, of course, provide much cause for disagreement in the particulars).

Some are alienated. Some are poor. Some are disabled. Some are depressed. Some are in pain. All of these and more are real, and can feel as if they define us. Stepping back, taking a breath, and counting blessings is important. While many things may be bad, not all things are bad, and Thanksgiving helps us to acknowledge that which is good.

So long as one is able to acknowledge and experience gratitude, Thanksgiving is all things to all men. It is serious and joyful. It is a solemn reflection as well as a lighthearted celebration. It is religious if you want it to be, or secular if that is your preference. Gratitude as such is worth celebrating, and Thanksgiving helps us recognize and celebrate it. Family, faith and the fact of life itself are all worthy of gratitude!

Whatever your situation this Thanksgiving, I fervently hope that you have the opportunity to consider that for which you are thankful, and that your have a joyous and hopeful holiday!

posted by Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM

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