By David K. Shipler
Thanksgiving
is the best of American holidays. It is either religious or secular, depending
on your preference. It is unburdened by materialism and free from jingoistic
patriotism. It celebrates neither war nor triumph. It is not a day of mourning or
grievance. It does not merely turn a page on the calendar but prompts a turning
inward in reflection. The only true indulgence is the elixir of good food, best
observed in our closest circles of family and friends.
Only there,
for those of us who have that safe place of intimacy, does giving thanks come
easily this year. If we have good health, good love, good friendships—if we
have enough money to sustain us comfortably, work that we enjoy, lives that
educate us constantly—gratitude flows clearly. Our act of thanksgiving is about
the present, and the past that has led to our bounty.
We cannot
give thanks for the larger world. Let us hope that next Thanksgiving we can, at
least in some measure. I would wish then to be grateful--
*for the
decency of my fellow Americans, who snuffed out the hateful bigotry and bluster
of Donald Trump and his mob of followers, overcoming them at the polls to
retain our nation’s purpose and ideals.
