Tomorrow America sets aside the day to be especially aware of the people, communities, place, opportunities, events, things, etc., for whom/which we are thankful. I’m learning to appreciate that saying, “Americans have much to be thankful for,” is a more complicated sentiment than I once assumed… who is included in the word “Americans”, people who were enslaved? people whose lives are held back because of their skin color, sex, first language, physical or mental ability? indigenous peoples?
- In a world of hunger, many “American’s” have food;
- In a world where roughly 40,000 people die everyday because of unclean drinking water, many “Americans” waste more clean water than they drink;
- Though many families must seek employment for their young children (sometimes in sex trades), many “American” children receive a free education;
- Though there is war, we live in a type of peace (let’s not lose site of gun violence, policing & prison violence, and the death penalty in this country);
- In many places on our globe the religious are persecuted while many “Americans” have considerable freedom;
- Or think AIDs epidemic… especially the way it is ravishing’s our siblings in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to relative health here;
- Economically, even the average American is part of the richest 3% of human beings on the globe.
I wish a nation day of gratitude was more simple… its not. We have often lived as though we are entitled to these blessing; entitlement is the enemy of gratitude. America – including my family – consumes more food, wastes more water, creates more wars, and has the resources to aid the persecuted, tend to the ill, educate children, and work together to better the lives of the poorest of the poor.
Also, one may be ask who “thanksgiving” is designed for? It seems like thanksgiving is primarily for Americans of European descent. At least the stories that are most commonly told seem to center the experience of white, and wealthy Americans.
And so, I engage as whole heartedly as I can in the costly discipline of thankfulness. I make the willful choice to see the many gifts I enjoy as an invitation live as a good and global neighbor. With the hope that as I grow in thankfulness I will not consume as I once did; my eyes will be opened; and my heart will be moved. God help me to notice, to be thankful, and to be a good neighbor.
What could a deep and enduring sense thanksgiving lead to?
peace, dwight
giving