For couple days, I have been mulling over a speech to share with my family during dinner. This year, I am hosting and my son is getting older. I feel obligated to be truthful and transparent about Thanksgiving. We have family right now who are hurting and we are gathering together to celebrate the things that we are grateful for. Those who are hurting are doing it quietly, most wont even know they are. I imagine it hurts very much to hear all the things others are grateful for while they are trying to keep their head above water. But thats Thanksgiving, in a way.
To the Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning. We all are sitting around thanking God for our bounty, but we stole that bounty. It wasn’t a cooperative. The Native Americans were not grateful to be forced from their homes, to watch their families split by place and disease, to lose the ability to practice their religion. While we were feasting our conquest, others are mourning. And I don’t know where God is in that.
While we lift our voices up in praise and adoration and thanksgiving, others are lifting up their voices in anguish and lament. I rescind my earlier statement, I know where God is in that. God is with the sufferers and with the conquerors, but God is on the vanquished side. Now I know where I need to be too.
This page has blessed my heart immensely. I hope and pray that there are no seeds of war or conquest in it. I don’t want my solace to mean someone else’s suffering. This year let’s remember those who weep and be on their side. Let’s skip the part when we are grateful we aren’t them.
Sacred Struggler 