Thanks, the table and world around

We think we have a pretty good idea about what the Pilgrims were thankful for at that first American Thanksgiving celebration in 1621 or 1623 in New England, depending upon which source of historical reference one uses.

They were grateful for having survived the two months in the Atlantic Ocean heading for the New World, and for their first harvest, and, legend goes, for the help of the Native Americans who provided them with food for their Thanksgiving table. And they were thankful, no doubt, that the Native Americans accepted them in a way after having initial, understandable fears that these newcomers meant them harm.

In fact, at that point, both groups were simply trying to survive – though the native tribes had managed to do that in New England for thousands of years.

Today, this Thanksgiving Day, there are many Americans, including those descended from Native Americans, who are trying to survive. The good people working in soup kitchens and church basements and at local restaurants offering a free feast to the homeless and needy will see them and help their survival, on this day at least.

And let us hope that this spirit of Thanksgiving, this spirit wherein we simply try to feed people and give them hope and some reason to be thankful themselves, will somehow linger in us, or become part of us, as the year draws to a close through Christmas.

So let’s hope we convey to children and grandchildren the reasons we are thankful this day beyond the feast before us. Yes, free from school and surrounded by those they love, who love them, the young should enjoy the wonders of this day, the chill in the air, the piles of leaves, the uniting of kinfolk from near and far, the laughter of games and the hugs and kisses of rarely-seen elders.

But in those prayers ‘round the tables, and in our after-meal chatter, let’s teach and show them the spirit of giving – planning a trip to pick from an Angel Tree at a mall, packing up coats for those seasonal charitable efforts for kids, putting together nonperishable bags of groceries for those in need, making lists and checking them twice, not of the gifts our own hope to gather come Christmas, but of things that other children, those we know and those we don’t, those we see at schools and those in far-off places pummeled by hurricanes and flood and tornadoes.

Yes, talk about a year to be thankful. We know in Puerto Rico and other places there are many thousands of people without power and adequate water, and worst of all, no knowledge of when relief might come and when life might return to anything approaching normal. Yes, when we’re giving thanks, let’s give special attention in our prayers and remembrances to something we call the determined, resilient and brave human spirit.

For if we are considering those things for which we’re thankful, one on the list must certainly be our good fortune in sharing a planet with the people in those places struck by natural disaster, who somehow carry on, who manage to find in the rubble some reason to hope, and to stand strong as they rebuild. It is an honor to share their hope.

And so, may our Thanksgivings be joyous, and generous, and in some measure thoughtful and hopeful. And of course, happy!

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Thanks, the table and world around."