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A Jobless Thanksgiving
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This morning I was telling Lily that yesterday the wind took care of eighty percent of the leaves in the front yard. I felt bad that they were dispersed in the lawns of our neighbors. She said falling leaves are a part of Autumn. True, and the changing colors and falling leaves also make me think of Thanksgiving.
For a lot of people, compared to last year, this Thanksgiving may be very different. The number of people without jobs is growing, even though we are told the recession is over. Who is it over for? Isn't that always the question? The center continues to be bled so wealth can accumulate on the perimeter. The leaves fall, and then the snow, but who really expects anything different next spring? We can rejoice in new life, sunshine and flowers, but what else? Exploitation of the masses plows through one season after the next. Does it really matter which party is in control? Do you really think you or I could make a difference if we were calling the shots?
I grow weary of the name calling, email forwarding, accusations and empty promises that continue to circulate and divide regular people from taking a good hard look at who profits from you and me being divided. Divide and conquer.
Do you ever wonder what we are not seeing on the News while we watch one politician rail against another, some celebrity go to rehab, or the different News Networks battle one another? Is this the News? Is this why our young soldiers are dying in a foreign land, why more and more people do not have jobs, and why more and more of us have to be medicated?
There is something much larger and uglier going on. Can't you all just report the News, not the consumer garbage we seem to want, but the Who? Who was involved? What? What happened (what's the story)? When? When did it take place? Where? Where did it take place? Why? Why did it happen? How? How did it happen? Nothing is fair and balanced. Opinions squeeze into everything, but all this other dribble just plays into the hands of the power brokers.
These are all symptoms of a systemic problem much deeper than politics, religion, philosophy or ecology. Soon, once again, Santa will masquerade as an angel of light with the usual results. Since no one is really good, only the retailers and their stockholders will really profit from Christmas.
Thanksgiving, however, still seems somewhat intact. Yes, we have our football games and parades, but there remains a focus, a longing, a desire for family and friends. Even when disputes corrupt, disrupt and destroy the day, there was still that original intention of getting together to celebrate relationships. Being grateful for the people in our life is still very important to most of us, and even though our number seems to be decreasing, many of us continue to be grateful to God and for God.
Not government, not science, not religion nor capitalism, have done anything to bring you and I any closer together. Until that happens we can only expect more of the same. So this Thanksgiving, be grateful for those who are a part of your life now, or maybe that someone who was once a part of your life. If you believe that no one has ever cared for you then you will never believe me when I say that God loves you. If all you had was that, then you would know this Thanksgiving, despite everything you see and hear, whether you have a job or not, whether you are liberal or conservative, despite those who use and abuse you, this is a Thanksgiving to be grateful for.
