Commentary: A Day of Thanks

By Othor Cain,

Editor,

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because more than any other, it uniquely binds us together by our gratitude for the love of Christ and the gift of life.

Whether you spend the day with family and loved ones; serve meals to those less fortunate or use the day to reflect on the love and memories of those that have gone before you, this is a day of thanks and reflection.

This generosity, this compassion, this belief that we are our brother’s keeper, is essential to who we are not just this day but every day.

It’s easy to focus on what separates us but as we gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving, let’s remember to be grateful for what binds us together.

Thanksgiving reminds us that no matter our differences, we are still one people, part of something bigger than ourselves. We are communities that move forward together. We are neighbors who look out for one another, especially those among us with the least. We are always, simply, humans.

When I think back on the depressed times of the Civil War and how President Lincoln – through the fog of it saw what mattered most – the unalienable truths for which so many gave their lives, and which made possible “a new birth of freedom.” And so precisely when the fate of the Union hung in the balance, he proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving, when the nation’s gifts “should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice by everyone.”

This Thanksgiving, we continue to give thanks for those blessings, and to all who ensured that they would be our inheritance.

Let us always remember we are not bound by any one race or religion, but rather an adherence to a common belief – that all of us are created equal. That we may think, worship, speak and love as we please. That this gift of life given by Christ is ours and we should do everything within our realm to nurture and protect it.

Our best days are ahead of us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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