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Giving Thanks
As we approach our national day of Thanksgiving, sure, we are thankful for health, family, jobs, homes, possessions and all, but what’s the one thing for which we should be most thankful? It’s the most valuable gift beyond life that we’ve all been given; we are Americans.
It is so easy to forget this, to discount, diminish, mock or depreciate it, but being an American is our single, most precious and shared gift. Despite what you may hear, America is still the one place where every single person no matter their station, race, color, religion, gender or origin, can pursue a fruitful and happy life. This is our unique birthright. There is no other place in this world with the liberties and freedoms we all enjoy. Not one.
No. Success and independence are not guaranteed, but every single American has an opportunity to pursue them, and if the effort fails, to try again and again. This is the gift we’ve received.
Our ancestors were not perfect people, but they left us something exceptional. Some came here seeking opportunity. Some were brought here as slaves. Some were part of the waves of ancients who migrated here long ago. But regardless of how they arrived here, they make up the American genome and bequeathed to us this rich country, our liberties, our form of governance and the advantages we all share.
But the gift of being an American is not free; it comes with responsibility, for oneself, one’s family and for those who cannot care for themselves. So the pursuit of happiness is more than just a pursuit; it is more than an obligation; it is a matter of pride. If you want happiness, you must work to earn it and you must give. No one is exempt from this.
Ingratitude is a sin of youth. It is easy to be ungrateful when others take responsibility for your needs. And ingratitude is the mother of entitlement and envy; it is corrosive and erodes the soul. But thanksgiving cures all this. To quote the great Willie Nelson, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”
So when we all sit around the dining table this Thursday and give our thanks for the bounty before us, remind everyone to be grateful for being here, in America, at this precious time in history. We are truly blessed.
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We are indeed blessed. There was a time when I didn’t give much thought for being an American. I took my life, my security, my freedoms for granted. I never disdained America, but I didn’t much praise it either. Not anymore. Everyday I think about how lucky I am. I only need to think of the Chinese people, the Venezuelans, the Russians, many Africans to remind me that this is the best country in the world. Beautiful post, Doug. Thanks.
Sometime this week, get to know the Monument to our Founding Fathers. It was erected to commemorate the Pilgrims that established the principles for America. Those are principles we should all be thankful for.
Thanks for the reminder, @dougkimball. Great post!
Thank you, Doug, for a beautiful post.
Counting my blessings every day.
We are blessed to be Americans. I have been following the student protests in Hong Kong for months and every day I am grateful for our freedoms and liberty.
Thank you for this lovely post! It’s so obnoxious that being thankful for America could now be considered a controversial topic. I appreciate Ricochet for being a forum for your thoughts. We are amazingly blessed to live in America–whatever way we or our ancestors ended up getting here. I’m sad for the people who don’t recognize their blessings.
Amen, brother!
I would tell these anti-American people (especially the youth) to travel in other countries and see what life is like. I can recall two things that stood out in my life.
When I was a know-it-all teenager, my family made a trip to Europe. We drove all over in a rented VW Beetle. In one part of the trip, we flew to West Berlin and visited East Berlin during the communist hayday. What stood out was the lack of activity on the streets and sidewalks – no cars, no people strolling out and about. However, there were a lot of soldiers. We attended a chaning-of-the-guard ceremony at a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial. I was aghast the East German soldiers were goosestepping! It was good to get back to our hotel in West Berlin.
As a know-it-all adult, I traveled to the former USSR in December, 1996 to adopt our three daughters. Our host families in Moscow and Dzerzhinsk were somewhat affluent, having apartments with their own bathrooms. There were plenty of cars and people out and about, even though the temperature was a chilly, round-the-clock minus 30 degrees. We eventually (and carefully) asked about the current political situation. Food and other consumer goods were becoming more available, but people still didn’t have eneough money to buy everything they needed. When we asked the seventeen year old daughter of our Dzerzhinsk host family about the future, she told us her greatest worry was the citizens would elect leaders who would drag Russia back into a USSR-like existance. Can you say, Vladimir Putin?
So yes, I thank God I’m was born an American. Even when elections didn’t turn out the way I wanted (Carter, Clinton, Obama), I didn’t feel as concerned as that young Russian girl did about her future.
Well, I didn’t until I saw what’s happening now with Trump . . .
“Our ancestors were not perfect people, but they left us something exceptional.”
Every kid in America needs to hear that. We focus a lot on the first part and less so on the second. Great Article!