Wishing Everyone a Very Happy Thanksgiving

I must admit that I don’t understand the motivation and rationale behind Thanksgiving. Of course, I understand that Thanksgiving is a day set aside so that we might give thanks for the bounty of the past year, but I don’t really get the traditions behind the day.

So we give thanks by overindulging, by stuffing ourselves until we are utterly miserable? I have often questioned the rationale of showing thanks by engaging in a day of sanctioned gluttony. Just doesn’t really seem to make sense. Wouldn’t make better sense to show our thanks by spending a day of fasting and thoughtful reflection?

But who am I to go against the grain? Who am I to upset the applecart? So I will spend Thanksgiving indulging myself in direct proportion to those blessings that have come my way this past year, and those blessings have been many. In other words, I am going to make a pig of myself again this year, and by late this afternoon, I will be cursing myself for overdoing it once again.

But in all seriousness, I have plenty this year to be thankful for. I am thankful for having been blessed with a loving wife and wonderful children. I am thankful that we finish this year with a roof over our heads and food on the table; there are so many others who cannot make that claim.

I am thankful for the talents that have been given me. I am thankful for the opportunities I have been given this year as well as the opportunities that are to come. I am thankful for a future that looks bright.

I am thankful for supportive and understanding friends. I am even thankful for those who come against me; in responding and dealing with their negativity and opposition, I emerge on the other side a stronger, better individual.

I am thankful for the prayers of my mothers and my aunts and other family members and friends who continue to pray for me even when I am too foolish (or too arrogant) to pray for myself.

If I were too continue with those things I am thankful for, this list would continue ad naseum; however, there is one more thing that I feel I must give thanks for. I am thankful that I continue to have readers to come over and read my pitiful commentaries and occasionally leave a comment or two. Thank you and I wish you and your family and love ones a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Broken People (I Wish You Heaven)

This morning’s scheduled post has been preempted by a last minute pang of consciousness. I'm unsure as to how many people will read this. Posts such as these don't receive much play.

I had prepared a well-reasoned rant about the state of politics in our country today, but suddenly a thought occurred to me. The naked acrimony and rancor present in our political system today directly reflects the relationships among individual citizens. More simply and aptly put, we have got to start treating each other much better than we do.

My grandmother had a great influence on my life. She taught me a great many lessons. Some of them I understood at the time; however, others I did not understand until much later. But whether I understood or not, because of my immense respect for this woman, I attempted to heed each lesson.

One of the things she insisted on is that I a treat each and every person with whom I come in contact with dignity and respect, especially old folks and babies, regardless of how well I knew them, regardless of how they treated me. Her phrase was “always recognize the humanity of every man.” She reasoned that angels walk on earth among us, and that we never knew when we were in the presence of angels, when we were being tested.

And, I must admit, this seemed kind of far-fetched at the time. I didn’t buy that whole angels everywhere thing. But I heeded my grandmother’s words just the same.

But now as an adult, I look around and see how broken we all are. Let me reiterate that point. In some way or another, we all are broken people. In some way or another, we have all been hurt. We have come short of our goals. We have faced disappointment. We are all dealing with moments in our past, moments in this nation’s history, which have been painful for us and continue to cause us great trepidation. Moments we thought we might never recover from. Moments which have cut us to the very quick.

And we have come out on the other side broken. But because life requires that we carry on, we have pushed that hurt, that pain, back deep into the recesses of our minds. But in dealing with others, that hurt, that pain, resurfaces, and we re-enact the moment of our original trauma on others. Who, in turn, re-enact it on others. Who, in turn, re-enact it on even others, until we are all caught in a tautological loop of perpetual animosity and distrust.

Certainly I admit that perhaps the whole concept is too idealistic, corny even, but I am going to do my part and recognize those broken parts of myself and attempt to confront them and heal them. So to begin this week, I will not post that angry but well reasoned rant.

Instead, despite what is going on around us, despite the negativity I am bound to face the moment I step out the front door, the moment I turn on the television, I will remain positive. I will attempt to keep smiling. And I hope that my positivity and my smile will somehow be infectious and encourage positivity and a smile in others I come in contact with. Who will, in turn, encourage positivity and a smile in even others, until we are caught in a tautological loop of perpetual good will and faith.

Yes, I am broken, but I will take time to deal with my issues. But in the meantime, I will take the time out to simply wish you heaven.

[Thanks to Mike over at My II Sense for inspiring this anti-rant.]

Please comment as to how you will be a blessing to someone this week?