Thanksgiving Day – 2017

I hate to think that I am going to start this Thanksgiving day with a rant, but yeah, that is what I am going to do.  I know this is supposed to be a day of giving thanks for all the good things we have in our life.  I am thankful, and I think we have much to be thankful for in this country, but it seems that this past year has been a year of negativity.  It is hard to be thankful if one is constantly focused on the negative.

I would start by reminding that Thanksgiving Day is an American Holiday.  It is a reminder of a time when a bunch of immigrants came to these shores to start a new life.  It is a reminder of the fact that they were, at least by some, welcomed to this new country.  However, I have read so much negative this year about immigration and about immigrants.  I need to say, being the son of an immigrant, that all immigrants, and all immigration is not a bad thing.   No one reading this, unless you are a full-blooded Native American, did not descend from immigrants.  That is something worth keeping in mind.  I agree, we cannot open the gates wide and tell all to come on in.  But neither can we close the gates completely and keep everyone out.  That is not who we are or what we are about.

I am also “up to here” with people whining about who is the President of the United States.  It is the way it is.  That is why we have an election, one side gets elected, the other side does not. I haven’t always been happy with the results of our elections. Too many times “my candidate” lost.  But we should accept what is and move on.  Pissing and moaning for the next four to eight years will accomplish absolutely nothing.  If we are not satisfied with the state of the Office, then we need to use the power we have, the power of the ballot box, to make a change.  Sharing fake news, creating negative hash tags, or crying in your beer might make you feel better, but It is not very effective.  Look to Russia or North Korea or Iran.  Look at the leadership in those countries.  Realize and be thankful for how much better we have it.  Let’s move forward as a country in unity, not stationary in division.

I ask you, I beg you, I plead with you.  On this Thanksgiving Day look for all the things that you are, or should be, thankful for.  Look around your thanksgiving table at your family members and be thankful they are there with you, for many tables have empty seats that should be occupied by those who have given up their freedoms and their lives to serve and protect, both in the military and in civil service.  BE thankful for them.    Be thankful that you can go to the church of your choice without fear of reprisal, persecution, or death, for all in the world cannot, be thankful that you are able to enjoy dinner with your family for there are many who cannot because they are lost and homeless.  As someone near and dear to me often says, what is the worst that can happen to you.  Now compare that to what your current grievance is.  Does it seem petty in comparison?

I could go on and on about the things I am thankful for.  I would rather dwell on that then the negatives.  Most of all, I am thankful that this is an American Holiday, that I am an American citizen, and this is still the Home of the Brave and the Land of the Free.

My Country ’tis of Thee! God Bless America!

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

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Tom Lind

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