Giving Thanks.

November is synonymous with Thanksgiving for many people. And, depending on a person's beliefs, Thanksgiving is filled with all manner of emotion and reflection. It means certain things to different individuals and no two people really acknowledge it the same way. We have all heard the traditional narrative that depicts the original Thanksgiving in 1607 in Virginia. But here is something you may not have realized:

In America, Thanksgiving was not officially recognized until Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday in 1863. Right smack dab in the middle of the War Between the States, when things were not going well and the nation needed a boost because it was being ripped to shreds. It was a calculated event to foster morale and unity in a time when society was being devastated. Until then, Thanksgiving was largely an afterthought of some historic event that happened 256 years prior. I apologize if some euphoric bubbles were burst with this information, but it doesn't demean the day at all. In fact, there now seems to be a little motivation for some personal application that might have been lacking in our own lives. Should we only be thankful when things are going well? I suspect not.

Thanksgiving at Samaritan House is a surreal event because it is shared between people who have much and people who have nothing. Many of our residents are living in the midst of their own private wars and will choose to be thankful in spite of their situations. Without realizing it, they are reflecting the original idea of this day and what it entailed for the entire nation when there was, seemingly, little to be thankful for. It is an internal condition that disallows sorrow and bitterness from uprooting hope and charity. It is not measured by income or which side of Main Street a person calls home. That's if they have even have a home at all.

I know its still a few weeks away but my goal is to remind us that there is one unifying factor that bonds all of us together in spite of economics and religion and politics and unenviable circumstances. The one right we all have is to hope for a better tomorrow. That will mean different things to each person reading this and I won't attempt to qualify what is important and what is trivial; you can make that decision on your own. But I hope you can find a way to rise above your circumstances and not only believe that things can get better, but that you can help them improve for others. Thanksgiving is not just a day to be thankful. It is a proactive event that should inspire us throughout the entire year to realize we are not bound by our circumstances and there is always something we can do to relate to others.