Thanksgiving 2021
On this date in the United States a day of Thanksgiving is celebrated. For far too many in the United States and other countries this is another day during which basic survival orchestrates the day. Some of these may have been the recipients of a meal from a facility which serves the homeless or those too poor to host a meal. Some may have been the recipients of a Thanksgiving basket containing the items for what has become a traditional holiday meal. Many will remain hungry. Some are what is euphemistically referred to as food insecure or food challenged.
Many in the retail industry are busy preparing for the “black Friday” sales, the ideal for which was first suggested by the then President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression in the United States.
It was in 1621 that a member of the Abenaki tribe brought a member of the Pawuset Tribe to teach the mal-nourished pilgrims how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish and avoid poisonous plants .
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln asked United States citizens to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widowers, orphans , mourners, and sufferers in the lamentable civil strife and to heal the wounds of the nation.” He scheduled the last Thursday of the month for Thanksgiving. This remained the date until 1939.
For over 796, 300 families in these United States this will be a day of mourning for those who have died as a result of covid. For many others, murder, suicide, addiction and a host of other causes have ended the life journey of loved ones.
Untold thousands or even millions knock, knock, knock at border doors begging for a place to safely make a home.
A growing number this Thanksgiving have made the tough decision that working for a minimal wage which does not even cover basic expenses is no longer an option. For others, eviction is threatening to determine their future. For some employers it is not business as usual as they struggle to hire and retain employees in a system which unequally rewards some while expecting others to be grateful for the left over crumbs.
It is a day when many will feel safe enough to gather with blood and intentional family members to share a lovingly prepared feast. Some will take time to audibly give thanks for each other, their shared bounty, and for the opportunity to live at a time when we in this country are being openly invited to celebrate amazing achievements as well as to mourn the grave failure of his nation to include all men, women and children in the “All men (read people) are created equal” of our Declaration of Independence. (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”)
Increasingly, for many, it will be a rainbow gathering inclusive of many colors, sexual orientations, genders, ages, occupations and class. For some, however, it will continue to be a gathering of exclusion.
For me it will be a quiet day of reflection. I am acutely aware that I am a privileged white male who has had an opportunity to do work for which I feel a passion, to get the health care I need to survive and even thrive. I am aware that I am not more or less deserving than others. I am reminded that to him/her much is given, much is to be demanded/expected.
Just for today it is a day which demands I remain humbly grateful; a day on which I must express my gratitude for all those who love me as the very imperfect human I am; to the sun, the moon, other planets, the insects, plants, animals, environmentalists, artists, dancers, and truth seekers who nourish me.
I am a citizen of these States, the state of Oklahoma, the continent of North America, the planet earth, and this universe. I am first and foremost a citizen of the universe to which I owe primary allegiance. I do not owe allegiance to a political party, a religious institution, or even a blood line. I owe allegiance to that which defines me; a communal human being living as a guest on planet earth.
Written November 25, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
On this date in the United States a day of Thanksgiving is celebrated. For far too many in the United States and other countries this is another day during which basic survival orchestrates the day. Some of these may have been the recipients of a meal from a facility which serves the homeless or those too poor to host a meal. Some may have been the recipients of a Thanksgiving basket containing the items for what has become a traditional holiday meal. Many will remain hungry. Some are what is euphemistically referred to as food insecure or food challenged.
Many in the retail industry are busy preparing for the “black Friday” sales, the ideal for which was first suggested by the then President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression in the United States.
It was in 1621 that a member of the Abenaki tribe brought a member of the Pawuset Tribe to teach the mal-nourished pilgrims how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish and avoid poisonous plants .
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln asked United States citizens to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widowers, orphans , mourners, and sufferers in the lamentable civil strife and to heal the wounds of the nation.” He scheduled the last Thursday of the month for Thanksgiving. This remained the date until 1939.
For over 796, 300 families in these United States this will be a day of mourning for those who have died as a result of covid. For many others, murder, suicide, addiction and a host of other causes have ended the life journey of loved ones.
Untold thousands or even millions knock, knock, knock at border doors begging for a place to safely make a home.
A growing number this Thanksgiving have made the tough decision that working for a minimal wage which does not even cover basic expenses is no longer an option. For others, eviction is threatening to determine their future. For some employers it is not business as usual as they struggle to hire and retain employees in a system which unequally rewards some while expecting others to be grateful for the left over crumbs.
It is a day when many will feel safe enough to gather with blood and intentional family members to share a lovingly prepared feast. Some will take time to audibly give thanks for each other, their shared bounty, and for the opportunity to live at a time when we in this country are being openly invited to celebrate amazing achievements as well as to mourn the grave failure of his nation to include all men, women and children in the “All men (read people) are created equal” of our Declaration of Independence. (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”)
Increasingly, for many, it will be a rainbow gathering inclusive of many colors, sexual orientations, genders, ages, occupations and class. For some, however, it will continue to be a gathering of exclusion.
For me it will be a quiet day of reflection. I am acutely aware that I am a privileged white male who has had an opportunity to do work for which I feel a passion, to get the health care I need to survive and even thrive. I am aware that I am not more or less deserving than others. I am reminded that to him/her much is given, much is to be demanded/expected.
Just for today it is a day which demands I remain humbly grateful; a day on which I must express my gratitude for all those who love me as the very imperfect human I am; to the sun, the moon, other planets, the insects, plants, animals, environmentalists, artists, dancers, and truth seekers who nourish me.
I am a citizen of these States, the state of Oklahoma, the continent of North America, the planet earth, and this universe. I am first and foremost a citizen of the universe to which I owe primary allegiance. I do not owe allegiance to a political party, a religious institution, or even a blood line. I owe allegiance to that which defines me; a communal human being living as a guest on planet earth.
Written November 25, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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