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ACCORDING TO LIZ - With Thanksgiving upon us, many people have a lot to be thankful for this year.
Others of us maybe not so much.
With the Don of Divisiveness heading back to the White House for four more years, and his panoply of proposed appointments forecasting a frightening future...
With the corporatocracy rubbing their hands in anticipation of rampant deregulation, and the uber-wealthy counting sugarplums of tax savings…
With the Departments of Justice, of Education, of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency all facing evisceration…
With the Texas board of education voting to allow schools to start using a Bible-based Christian curriculum for reading and language arts next fall…
With the threats to women’s health and immigrants…
With 25% tariffs poised to decimate the economy…
It all feels… overwhelming.
But that is precisely what Thanksgiving Day is set to accomplish. Force people to focus on what is good in their lives and celebrate; accentuate the positive.
Give everyone an opportunity to break out of their doldrums and reopen communication with not only our friends and family who share the same concerns, but those we have broken with over opposing views, and even with neighbors who may be celebrating this Time of Trump before or even as the reality sets in.
Take the opportunity to talk about policies that work for all sides, find the commonalities, stop with the fear and suspicions about a bowdlerized America, reach out and embrace the good in everyone.
A smile, a handshake, a hug.
Reach out to embrace all your neighbors. Inspire communities to remain open and welcoming to everyone. Be the one who boosts social enrichments. Celebrate even the smallest of victories.
Like those first settlers who appreciated learning from those whom they thought of as savages so they could make it through the first year in a new land, and their shared giving of thanks for a bountiful harvest.
For many indigenous cultures, giving thanks was a part of daily life. It wasn’t just one day a year of over-eating, but an everyday acknowledgement of the enduring gifts of Mother Earth; every berry picked, every fish caught, every animal who sacrificed their fur to warm someone, the bountiful fruits of land and rivers, oceans and air that allowed people to flourish – all evoked thanks.
Today we have ways to share our celebration with those not physically present. Certainly none of the Pilgrims could phone home.
Today we have sat-phones and e-mail, Zoom and WhatsApp to reach out and touch friends and family.
On a more serious note, turn to some of the brief words spoken by President Abraham Lincoln at the consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg 161 years ago.
The battle had been bloody, and the future still looked bleak, but Lincoln talked not of loss but of the living, and the unfinished work they fought to advance, for the proposition that all men are created equal, and for freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, should not perish from the earth.
That is a sentiment that all Americans, those who voted for Harris, those who voted for Trump, and those who couldn’t or chose not to vote, can all support. Even though their personal interpretations of what equality and freedom mean may differ.
That may be the place to start talking with people this Thanksgiving. And about their hopes. Getting you and them to focus on dreams for a better future and let everyone’s fears fall away.
Even if it’s only for a few brief hours.
But once achieved – rinse and repeat. Remember, practice makes perfect.
Happy Thanksgiving!
(Liz Amsden resides in Vermont and is a regular contributor to CityWatch on issues that she is passionate about. She can be reached at [email protected].)
