Gratitude- American Thanksgiving Week Monday 2023

 

Gratitude is a concept each of us should embrace. Consider that gratitude grounds us, brings us contentment and hope. No matter what each of us experiences, it is more likely than not that another human soul is experiencing something worse. 

Those of us who have descended into the valley of despair and fought our way to peace & serenity appreciate that in life all things are relative. Particularly if we are blessed to live in a place where we can thrive.

Americans who whine about situations over which they have no control are in most scenarios blessed. Those of us who had the good fortune of being born and/or raised in the country must sing to the heavens the abundance that has given us opportunities that those born elsewhere do not enjoy.

Protesters denigrating the American experience would, no doubt, reconsider their antipathy if they were compelled to spend even a week in a country with fewer freedoms. 

Have you ever visited a country where people lived in a lean to next to the railroad tracks? Have you ever seen families exist in tents with dirt floors and pigs running rampant inside?Have you ever seen parents that have disabled their children to make them more effective beggars? Have you ever visited a country where you wish you could adopt all of the at risk children with the chance to bring  them to the USA to give them an opportunity for something more? Have you ever seen a government give tours to exploit their citizens? Have you ever experienced people refusing to engage for fear of angering their government? Have you ever been so horrified by the way people have been treated in their own countries that you’ve lost faith in mankind?

I have. Multiple times. That is why I cannot understand those American citizens that denounce the very foundation of who we are. That is why I am horrified by the antisemitism rampart in Universities, member of Congress, and uninformed people. We, the people, are required by our ideology to embrace people from all cultures and all walks of life unless they denounce the rule of  law and human rights.

That requires us to eschew support for Hamas, Iran, China, Russia, North Korea and any other entity that rejects  fairness and the need to protect human dignity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, country of origin, language, socioeconomic level, sex, identity or favorite color. Anyone who supports totalitarianism, intolerance, castigation of others for their beliefs or political affiliation or because of any human characteristic. 

Judge not yest thee be judged.