Gratitude Regardless

Norman Rockwell’s Thanksgiving Picture was called The Freedom From Want - taken from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address where he discussed the four freedoms offered by our democratic system of government.

“The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.”

It was a tough month for me and our family. So many questions - so very many questions - raised by the outcome of the elections in this country.

So I turned to a range of those pastimes that provide comfort to me and others. Yes, making chicken soup, followed by a wide range of roasted, sauced succulent vegetables. There were gatherings that ranged from a small lunch around our cluttered table with old colleagues to dinners out with fun loving, much traveled friends. All were nurturing and necessary

Now - as we prepare to spend Thanksgiving weekend with our in-law family - I’m settled and ready to move forward. 

I understand that 49 percent of those who showed up to vote see the world very differently than I do and see a range of reasons to fear what I see as progressive politics. 

I also understand that I spend most of my  time with those who see the world as I do - full of promise and potential for a better tomorrow. Of course, to achieve that better future means we need to work together, across our differences, to solve the problems of society - to find common ground and move from there. 

After a year of learning that my physical self can heal from nearly anything, I’m now working on the healing I’ll need to do to find that common ground. It will start with the values I know are shared by those I care for beyond partisan politics.

My childhood, college, and adult friends all believe that being honest with oneself and others is a good place to start…digging deep to find the truth behind our beliefs. I also know that we share a strong belief in good character - choosing to spend time with those who treat others with kindness and respect as a reflection of the respect and kindness we seek. 

We’re all human though - so we slip up from time to time. I know I have to work at avoiding gossip, or lashon hara, (Hebrew for unkind words) and work to avoid being judgmental of others. It can be difficult to remember that our shared humanity all the way to our DNA is much more alike than different. And that requires always offering benefit of the doubt to any who may appear or speak or present as different to what I’m accustomed to experiencing. 

As we enter this reflective period of gratitude, beginning with our national Thanksgiving holiday, I’ll hold tight to the values I strongly believe will lead us beyond the angry acrimony of the past few months and allow us to seek fairness and justice as imagined by those who founded this 200 + year experiment in democracy.