Today is the day when most people get together and enjoy a meal and the closeness of family and friends. Some do it because it’s a tradition, others do it because it’s part of a system of beliefs that says it is worth doing, and still others because everyone else does it. There are a host of views for and against “the holiday” and I won’t bother detailing those because to me, frankly, they seem more divisive than anything. Admitting that my perspective is just one more amongst the many, it remains that I think, feel, and believe that the purpose of any cultural observation is to celebrate and honor the themes it contains in the best way humanly possible.
In all honesty, the observation of a long ago meal is not that important to me, even as I find value and meaning in the notion that being thankful is a good thing that should be embraced and supported at any opportunity. The reason I celebrate this particular day is a combination of finding merit in the notion of taking (at least one) day a year just to meditate upon the notion of thankfulness and to pointedly call forth from the overall melting pot of life experience those things that have, without doubt, been gifts and are very important to highlight as such.
I considered listing them here, but it would be a longer list than I’m willing to type with a dish to be cooked and small travel soon to be undertaken to share it with friends. Instead, I’ll simply say that I hope each of you have a similar long list to warm your mind and heart today, and that you have at least one person in your life that you know includes you on their list of things for which to be thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving.