COLD TURKEY

My thanksgiving is perpetual…                                                                   

For my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.

Henry David Thoreau

Tell you the truth, I’m tempted to skip this year and move directly to Thanksgiving 2016, because by then the presidential election will finally be behind us. But then I realize that I better be careful what I wish for, because if the election were to be held right now it would likely be a contest between Hillary and Donald and who would wish that on the nation?

So, we will suffer through another whole year of insufferable posturing and deception in the hope that some worthy contender may surface from the process. Was this really what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they set up our system of government?

I am thankful but not complacent. I crave for a government that earns the respect of the civilized world by being true to the principles on which this nation was founded, by being willing to share its richness with the less fortunate and persecuted and by accepting the limitations of its reach, power and ambition. I crave for a small but effective government that is not handcuffed by money interests nor held back by extreme polarization and purely partisan considerations. I crave for a government that sees its role more as an enabler than the perpetrator and the ultimate authority. And I crave for courageous leadership in the White House and Congress, guided by what needs to be done rather than by what the campaign donors want them to do.

I give thanks regardless this Thursday. Because life and America have been good to me and I'm grateful for the blessings bestowed upon me. It would feel better though if we had not burdened the coming generations with mounds of debt and allowed our infrastructure to degrade. And it would feel better if the blessings of America were more evenly bestowed upon all of its deserving people so that, as a nation, regardless of creed, color, social status or political conviction, we could all observe Thanksgiving not just as another day off, but as a moment to pause and reflect on how exceptionally privileged it is to live in America and be free.