Thanksgiving By Grace Alone

It's pretty clear that I have a lot to be thankful for, and equally clear that a lot of that has nothing to do with my own efforts. On this day of national gluttony and thanks I want to call attention to those things I enjoy through grace alone.

I am thankful for my robust health, that all my children and grandchildren are living, and that I still am blessed with all of my siblings. I am also thankful for my own mother's excellent health.

I am thankful that no one in my family is homeless or hungry, and those who can work and want to are employed.

I am grateful to have been born into a family that appreciates me and has been able and willing to encourage me to be myself and to pursue my own interests. I am grateful that my in laws have been welcoming.

I feel fortunate to have lived all my life in a free country and to have lived here in peace and plenty. We have not had devastating years of war on our own soil in my time, and no natural disasters have been so cruel as to involve so large a portion of the country that we unable to take care of our own.

There are many in this world who are not as lucky as I have been by grace alone. If you feel moved to do so, please give thanks for your good fortune not only around the table, but in a donation to the less fortunate. I am making my donation today to the Native American Heritage Association, who provides aid to the Crow Creek and Pine Ridge Reservations in South Dakota.