This is Thanksgiving Day in the USA, the time we celebrate how the first colonialists survived their initial, bitter winter in the New World. The irony, of course, is that it was the Native Americans who brought food to those Europeans; otherwise, they would have starved. Once the newcomers were better established, they systematically exterminated as many Indians as possible, and white people took over this continent.
So, for many of us, this is a bittersweet holiday. It is my personal favorite meal of the year, because I love to cook turkey with stuffing. I'm grateful that my ancestors arrived after the slaughter of natives was done, though the fact that there is no blood on our hands does not make our common history here all that more palatable.
My youngest suggested that today could be renamed "Giving Thanks." Maybe then Americans could look beyond all that delicious turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, gravy, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, nuts and whipped cream to contemplation of our position in the world...a position based on dominating global resources at the point of a gun.
I celebrate Thanksgiving as heartily as the next person; I'm the domestic type, who loves to cook. I love my family, and want them all to be happy and well-fed.
But, I also love this planet, and the billions of poor who have neither enough to eat nor a safe place to sleep. It would be a truly great feeling to give thanks that everyone on earth, not just us, had a delicious meal tonight in a warm house, surrounded by loved ones.
One earth, after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment