Thanksgiving 2022

Thanksgiving 2022

When the best news on TV is seven feet of snow in Buffalo, you know you’re in trouble. It seems that every day there’s another shooting or antisemitic incident, one more horrific than the other.

On Saturday, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs was attacked, and five murdered. Before that, four students in Utah. Add to these the shootings of student-athletes in Virginia and New Mexico, and you wonder if anyone is safe.

On Sunday, two youths were apprehended before they could viciously attack a synagogue in NYC. Two weeks ago, Kyrie Irving could not apologize for spreading antisemitic rhetoric, and Ye (aka Kanye West) felt no need to apologize for spewing anti-Jewish hatred. It feels as though our country is falling apart.

On the other hand, Adidas, choosing to focus on unity and true sportsmanship, severed ties with Ye, and Nike followed suit with Kyrie. These companies sacrificed millions to show that hatred and racism are unacceptable.

One good thing to come forth from the midterm elections was that election deniers, for the most part, did not succeed. America showed that it believes in the proof behind the 2020 election results and in the election process.

As Thanksgiving approaches, the natural tendency may be to be less grateful this year. I believe this would be a mistake. Spirituality teaches us that showing gratitude brings about more things for which to be grateful. Furthermore, numerous research studies have shown that gratitude (i.e., daily gratitude lists) improves our general happiness and well-being.

Perhaps this is the lesson of this year’s Thanksgiving. When there appears to be less to be thankful for, we need to double down on gratitude. Times change, and we always go through periods of scarcity and plenty, fear and rejoicing. Yet the effects of gratitude do not change; they always bring about positivity and happiness.

May we truly appreciate our blessings this Thanksgiving, and may our mass consciousness of gratitude turn the tide for us and bring us new things for which to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving,

R’ Neil, Judy and Family