Thanksgiving
As Thanksgiving dawns this year, I can only think of the tumult on distant shores, and recall how very precious our freedom is. Emma Lazarus reminds us that this freedom is our destiny and our watchword:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."
I am thankful for that freedom. The new colossus at our gates still stands with her message of world-wide welcome.
I can only hope and pray for peace for our troubled world, in France, in Syria, in Russia, the Ukraine, in the Middle East, everywhere that the tempest-tossed seek freedom. Let their search not be in vain.
Here at home, it is time to celebrate, to come together.You can watch the parade. I’ll be in the kitchen with the turkey. I’ll be in there stirring, and mixing, basting and chopping. The table is what it is all about; but I should amend that statement; of course, the matter is not the table, really, but those who are gathered around it, and those who are not. This is the blessing of Thanksgiving, to have those you love around you, and be able to share in the feast, in the good times, to share the love, and remember the loved ones of Thanksgivings past.
One can never feel the blessings without acknowledging the losses. It is a grievous thing to come together at a table with empty chairs. So my heart and wishes, as always, go out to those who must make do with memories. But today I will not be maudlin, only make this wish for all my friends and family: that the hungry be fed, that the naked be clothed, that all those who are without can find their heart’s desire, and for all peoples of this world to have a blessed Thanksgiving.