Tis the day to feel gratitude. It does not cost anything, so there is no real excuse for not showing how grateful we all are. And yet, gratitude now seems more to be the exception than the rule. We have gotten over the urge to feel grateful because we have gotten over the cultural imperative to connect with other people.
It may be worse now, yes. Yet I am unsure of that. My memory of high school and college in the 60s and 70s was of ungrateful classmates even then. I was a prize twerp in many ways, yet have always had a strong sense that I am very lucky to have people better than me as friends, and certainly have received more physical blessings than I deserve.
You are right, it costs nothing. But in a deeper sense it costs a great deal. You have to step outside yourself and see the world through another's eyes. You have to look with cold objectivity at what you have earned versus what you have been given - and to see clearly whether you were born on third base before you scored the winning run, as the saying used to be.
I note that religion today is not at all like the old time religion I grew up with the in 60s and it didn't get better, it got much worse. It lost all meaning as the church turned to just about any perversion and announced to one and all they were 'down' with that and basically tossed sin out the window. They tossed everything else that gave religion any meaning out the same window.
It may be worse now, yes. Yet I am unsure of that. My memory of high school and college in the 60s and 70s was of ungrateful classmates even then. I was a prize twerp in many ways, yet have always had a strong sense that I am very lucky to have people better than me as friends, and certainly have received more physical blessings than I deserve.
You are right, it costs nothing. But in a deeper sense it costs a great deal. You have to step outside yourself and see the world through another's eyes. You have to look with cold objectivity at what you have earned versus what you have been given - and to see clearly whether you were born on third base before you scored the winning run, as the saying used to be.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I note that religion today is not at all like the old time religion I grew up with the in 60s and it didn't get better, it got much worse. It lost all meaning as the church turned to just about any perversion and announced to one and all they were 'down' with that and basically tossed sin out the window. They tossed everything else that gave religion any meaning out the same window.
Thanks for all your great writing, Stuart! Happy Thanksgiving!