Give thanks for plentiful harvest

It was 1621. The harvest was plentiful. The Pilgrims set aside a public day of celebration to give thanks and they invited the Indians to participate with them and their families.

It is 1989. The day has long been a national holiday, and we still observe the time by feasting with our family and friends. Stores advertise the plentiful harvest waiting to be purchased and cooked and served. It is the most traveled holiday of the year, a time for going home.

And we give thanks. Some are more adept with expressions of gratitude than others. Still, it is something we give from ourselves. Regularly, or at intervals, we give thanks.

Some of us reach deep inside to give thanks for a child recovered from an illness, for a loved one spared in an accident, for a job that will provide for our family, for health and happiness.

And we think of earthquake victims, the survivors of an explosion or a devastating hurricane. We give thanks that we and our families and friends were spared. And we give thanks for the heroes who worked day and night to rescue and administer aid. We give thanks that in our land neighbors still respond to help one another.

We give thanks when we see the lines of refugees who against all odds are racing toward freedom, some leaving behind all their possessions and many of their loved ones. Those expressions of thanks come voluntarily, almost a reflex action.

Other expressions of thanks are those that we stop and analyze, that we think about, ones that come from going about our daily lives, taking for granted the goodness of our land, the health and happiness that we have.

For those who make an analysis on a regular basis, the long lists of “things to be thankful for” come readily to mind. We remind ourselves of the opportunities, of the wealth of good fortune that is ours.

For many of our blessings we admit that we had little to do with gaining them. They came from our parents, our ancestors, our founding fathers and those who came before us to make our country and our land a plentiful harvest.

For some of our blessings we give thanks that we had the opportunity for good nutrition, medical care, education, the free enterprise system to pursue our own interests, the right of free speech, of elections, our Bill of Rights.

For some of our blessings we give thanks for the direction and the guidance of our leaders. In our melting pot we have learned to live together and to meld our talents and our abilities.

For all our blessings we give thanks to a higher being, one who is surely protecting and watching over our country, continuing to bestow on it a rich and bountiful harvest.

Whether our giving of thanks is voluntary – a pouring forth from our hearts – or the result of a time set aside to stop – to think – and to analyze our many blessings, the day set aside is the time to give thanks.

The Puritans and the Indians had the right idea. The harvest is plentiful. Let’s give thanks.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1989