Thanksgiving is about right speech: gratitude. Whether we articulate gratitude in a prayer before the meal or not, our hearts, when we are with loved ones, enlarge with belonging and connectedness. I know there is a movie out right now about a disfunctional family, and I enjoyed Jodie Foster's movie a few years ago about the secrets and lies and turmoil in a family during a holiday reunion. There is some of that in the mix of every family. So we're not perfect; at least we're trying. Families if they are wise call a truce around the table and the football game on TV and the walk among the colorful fall leaves. They attempt to not take offense at an offhand remark and change the subject if a political debate is about to ensue.
If most Thanksgiving get togethers don't meet our expectations, then we need to see what is, not what we'd like it to be, and appreciate the effort to come together and the fortunate situation we find ourselves in when eating too much is a problem and the kids drive us a bit crazy. We have kids that drive us crazy and that is a blessing.
I used to go to classrooms and describe the REAL first Thanksgiving, from the Indians' point of view. Who really helped who and how that model of cooperation and trust was quickly destroyed. Not out of bitterness, but out of the stone cold fact of interdependence necessary to life, all life. We began on the right note, then people turned against each other out of fear of the other, misunderstanding and greed. That lesson is always and forever relevant. We need to recognize our interdependence as a nation and that our diversity enriches all our lives. I for one am grateful.
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