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Volume CXXXIII, Number 10 |
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Let us give thanks
GENEVIVE CREEDON
I have almost always been contradicted when I tell people that Thanksgiving
is the best day of the year. The usual days that tend to surpass it in
other people's eyes are Christmas or birthdays, because of presents.
Most significant days of the year have myths constructed around them
that make them so great. Thanksgiving is certainly not exempt from myth
making. Most of its joys are based on tradition, family, food. But Thanksgiving
always gets me, because the importance attached to it is the importance
that should be attached to every day of the year.
I suppose this year, especially, we have begun to take a much stronger
notice of how precious time is. We often wait to tell people how much
we love and appreciate them; we wait for a better time, or for a reason
to tell them. September 11 gave the whole world a reason to call a loved
one just to say: "I love you." Thanks were abounding then, too.
We were all thanking God, thanking each other, and the thanks was heartfelt,
but how long did it last?
We are over two months removed from that provocative day, and life has,
under most circumstances, returned to normalcy. We no longer walk by each
other and hug for no reason. We no longer pat each other on the back just
because. We no longer speak kind words simply because they come to mind.
We are selfish people, but even more, we are young enough to still care
too much about what others will think of us if we show a bit of unwarranted
(God forbid) affection for one another. Yet, we all deserve that affection,
and we need it, regardless of whether or not we acknowledge that necessity.
We need it, because all human beings need it, and we deny needing it,
because we think it will make us look stronger and more independent. Instead
it makes us colder and hungry for a taste of humanity we make a point
to deny ourselves.
Thanksgiving is a great day, because it is designated to allow us not
to deny ourselves that warmth and humanity. It is a great day, because
everyone has a solid justification to be kind, to be thankful, and to
express those thoughts we keep hidden all year.
Thanksgiving is, in my book, a celebration of humanity. It's a celebration
of what we all do for each other every day. It's a day to thank our friends,
our family, and the countless others who do things for us on a daily basis,
from teachers to janitors to mailmen.
What we forget, or simply fail to acknowledge every other day of the
year, we can celebrate on Thanksgiving. Spencer Michael Free phrased that
celebration of humanity as: " 'Tis the human touch in this world
that counts, the touch of your hand and mine, which means far more to
a fainting heart than shelter and bread and wine; for shelter is gone
when the night is o'er, and bread lasts only a day, but the touch of the
hand and the sound of the voice sing on in the soul alway."
And even if our words don't always reflect our thanks, we owe it to ourselves
and to everyone else to always hold that human touch as the most important
and most influential gift we have and can give to others. It is that gift
that Thanksgiving celebrates and prolongs.