Thanksgiving Week

This is a time we Americans set aside to count blessings. All of us have blessings whether we fully account for them or not. For some it may simply be the roof over our heads however temporary that is. Yet others will be thankful for a steady accessibility to food and warmth for much of the year.

Some will be very grateful for clean drinking water where so little of it is available. And long treks with a heavy pot carried over rough terrain to get a few hours worth of potable water. Home again the trekker and pot are united with the people of their lives and friends and family drink and sigh together for the refreshment.

They are thankful for the water, the gathering, the simple act of being together.

So too the American Thanksgiving Holiday – families reuniting and sharing time and space and food. Catching up with each other’s lives. Laughing over simple observations. Smiles of recognition and remembering the similar moments lived long ago.

Time may heal all things but time also builds memories of times long past. Magically remembered at key moments. Relived, even. Somehow that, too, is a blessing.

Concerns aplenty populate modern routines but still we are safe and fed and clothed in ways so normal we don’t even think of it. But the blessings are there counted or not. And that’s OK. We have time to be grateful for other things that give dimension and weight to our lives.

The small things, though, are the foundation of what we have. A time to be grateful for the small things is appropriate. It keeps us honest and humble. It is not riches we need for happiness. But others, yes. We need them to bless our lives.

In our very busy times we keep in touch but not in physical presence. That comes at gatherings – weddings, parties, funerals, celebrations, and the simple meals shared.

Thanksgiving allows us another of those celebrations but this one focused on recalling all that is important and valued.

This week, whether you travel far or only a block, think on the things that have built your life and be thankful for them all. Share this with your loved ones this week. Make this a special Thanksgiving!

November 24, 2015