In the US, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Despite what you might see around you, it’s not a holiday that exists to mark the beginning of shopping season. It celebrates the harvest, and in the original glossed-over telling, celebrates the connections between people from different backgrounds and cultures.
And each year, we get another chance to make that version true. Every day, in fact.
Two thoughts as you begin to plan your celebration (wherever you are, and whatever day you have it.)
First, I hope you’ll consider the free Thanksgiving Reader. It’s a PDF you can print and share at the event. For years, people have been using it to go around the table and give friends and family a chance to speak and connect. I’m thrilled that it’s already touched more than a million people.
As I read this recently, it struck me that perhaps this is the only way out of what we might term things like cultural-divides. Until we can we see what we are grateful for again in each other, we may not be able to move on towards something constructive about what it means to maintain a society. Obviously, the first Thanksgiving was about the connections between people from different backgrounds and cultures — a reality that persists even to today.
