Now that Thanksgiving's Over

Our national holiday, Thanksgiving Day, is a time for football, friends, family, feasting, feelings of gratitude, celebration of our freedoms, and reflection on our foundation. A day of immersion in the physiology of communing, breeding, feeding, digesting, nesting, and resting, and a reprieve from the grind and the physiology of fortressing, fighting, fleeing, freezing, faltering, or, for some, even fainting.

On this day I found myself sitting at the dinner table with both growing gratitude and growing hunger. While waiting for a cue that it was time to eat, I watched the beautiful faces and listened to the constant chatter of the grandbabies and grandchildren. I wondered what this day would mean to them many years from now.

Then I began to contemplate the origins of this national holiday and its meaning for the many past, now gone, generations.

I found myself being drawn to one of the oldest expressions of our nation's values: the Preamble to the Constitution, which reminds us of our foundational principles:

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

With a sense of deep gratitude, I then began to count and contemplate these blessings:

A government that is focused on forming a more perfect... well, maybe not that one.

Leaders who are focused on the establishment of... hmmm, not so much.

Maybe insuring domestic…? Oh, nope.

Perhaps, kind of, providing for a common…? Ehh, not really.

What about promoting the general…? Ha, not even close.

Well, for sure, preserving individual rights and the blessings of…! Nope.

Then, certainly, like any good species, we care about our…? Really, not even our children?!

The truth is, despite my surroundings, my many blessings, and my great intentions, I didn't fare very well with this Thanksgiving exercise. In the midst of all the friends, family, and food, I felt that this year we have all been served a carcass of the Constitution—disarticulated bones picked clean of flesh and meat.

Unlike many, I'm not hungry or suffering in the literal sense. But I found that I am hungry for union, justice, tranquility, peace, and, above all, for the protection of all people, especially our children. I worry for our children.

So this year, I'm left feeling starved. More pie, please.

Stay Safe and Stay Tuned