Having recently spent time in Haiti is making this a very different Thanksgiving for me. I try to be mindful of my blessings throughout the year. At Thanksgiving, I like for those gathered around the table to share the things for which they are giving thanks and I do the same. This year, my list will have some never-before-mentioned blessings.
I am typically thankful for the abundant food and clothing I have as well as safe and dry shelter. I am grateful for my job, especially in a time when so many people are losing theirs. I give thanks for my health and the relatively good health of most of my friends and family. But I haven’t given thanks in the past for access to excellent healthcare and heat on cold days and air conditioning on stifling ones.
In a time when many of us find our government and its bipartisanship, waste, and seeming inability to get things done extremely frustrating, I am actually now thankful for our government. I have seen the results of corrupt and heartless leaders who allow their governments to destroy the land and neglect and abuse their countrymen. So I am thankful for a government that monitors the water supply so I have clean drinking water. I am grateful for trash services, even if they are funded via my tax dollars. I am thankful for the social safety net in this country – unemployment insurance, social security, and Medicare – even if I haven’t had the need to take advantage of the net…yet.
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I am quite sure I have never given thanks for public transportation, even though I do commute to work every day via train. In spite of my love-hate relationship with SEPTA, I am grateful knowing that if I could no longer afford my car I would have an option other than walking to work.
Being in Haiti has taught me to look at life differently. On Thanksgiving Day I will continue to think about all of the “new” things for which I am thankful. For what do you give thanks?
