Thanksgiving – a simple concept and a complex equation

On one hand, Thanksgiving is a simple concept.
It is a day beautiful in its simplicity.
Its centerpiece is simply a meal.
It belongs not to one faith but to all Americans.
No religious services are required. No complex liturgies are recited.

On the other hand, Thanksgiving is a complex equation –
of what I have lost versus what I have.
It is an equation that is seemingly unsolvable,
taking note of the profound pain friends and fellow citizens feel –
lost spouses, lost children, lost houses, lost lives,
leaving vast and agonizing voids no words or numbers around a table can fill.

It entails an imbalance of injustice –
reckoning with the devastation behind headlines
that will require huge sums to create solutions.

It calls us to recount complete and incomplete journeys
of landing on American soil, pursuing freedom,
creating freedom by finding the numbers to pass laws that protect
and recognizing how much work we have ahead.

Thanksgiving is a complex act of reckoning and reconciling,
working to right what is wrong, to make the equation work
not only for me but for others.

Thanksgiving is a simple process –
of expressing gratitude for what we have.

God, may I live my gratitude by giving myself the space and time today
to appreciate the gifts I have.

God, may I live my gratitude by giving
support to others
voice on behalf of the oppressed,
vision for righting local and global wrongs,
money and time to causes that embody my values,
love and presence to those I care about.