Musings on the Eve of Thanksgiving

   It always seems difficult to for me to say anything profound or inspiring about Thanksgiving.  Why should that be?  Gratitude is a wonderful thing and to live gratefully is superb.  But what to say?   To be honest much for which we are often thankful comes at the expense of others; laborers exploited, native resources stolen, and others who have lost out, due to circumstances of birth and location.
   Gratitude cannot be demanded...so admonitions to be grateful are not helpful.  Much writing about thanksgiving slips into "should" talk.  True we should be grateful but it doesn't help anyone to tell them that.
   Perhaps the best we can do is humbly acknowledge our dependence.  That dependence is on those whose labor and resources makes our lives possible.  It is also dependence on our inheritance; genetics, nurture, and opportunity provided by those who have gone before us. Perhaps that is what we should encourage...humility that recognizes our true dependence.