I've written about Thanksgiving (October in Canada, November in the US) more than once on this blog, but the posts have mostly boiled down to this: giving versus taking. Specifically, why can't people GIVE thanks without taking?
Expressing gratitude is a lovely thing, and having a national holiday where folk can celebrate the good things in their lives is fine too, but can't this be done in a way where other lives aren't taken? Why is it necessary to kill in order to say, thank you?
The hypocrisy of this is even more blatant at Christmas when people worldwide celebrate the birth of Christ (whether they believe or not) by partaking in death.
So I ask again, why does being thankful for good fortune have to involve the taking of life? I would argue it doesn't, and would urge you to rethink why and how you celebrate, if it does.
In these times of anxiety and turmoil it can be difficult to be truly appreciative, but we have to try. With Covid-19, good health is something no longer taken for granted, so if you and those you love are healthy, then that already is something to be thankful for. Still working and making an income? Also something to be extra thankful for. Not separated from your family? Again, no longer taken for granted.
I take it back about it being difficult to be appreciative right now. Perhaps this year like no other people are even more acutely and consciously grateful for the things in their lives still going right, and are more aware than ever of how it can be going so incredibly wrong for so many others.
Happy Thanksliving everyone (to our southern neighbours, we are hopeful that this year you can be thankful for a new President), and please consider the many ways in which you can celebrate life by respecting the lives of all living beings. Thank you (especially from Corno the turkey below, best friend of Esther the Wonder Pig.)
