Meaning of Turkey Day lost in the holiday rush

From the Nov. 22, 2006, editions of The Lima News

The cornucopia seems rather hard to find this year.

It’s been easy to find Christmas trees, singing Santas and bows on gifts for the past month, as people warm up for the so-called "most wonderful time of the year." But the horn of plenty, that iconic horn-shaped basket filled with festive fruits associated with Thanksgiving, is nowhere to be found.

Most people know Thursday is Thanksgiving. The true meaning behind the holiday, however, seems forgotten. It’s become a day of gluttony, as we gather with family to plan our black Friday plans, not express our thanks for what we have.

Thanksgiving is perhaps the first American holiday, as the pilgrims gathered to celebrate the harvest on Dec. 4, 1619, in the Virginia Colony. They gathered with the natives there, who helped them survive the season with their knowledge of the earth.

Perhaps it says something about our nation when we largely ignore the real purpose of one of the most American of holidays. People want to race past Thanksgiving and right into the Christmas season. They’re more interested in the thanks-for-the-gift of the 25th of December than the thanks-for-everything of the fourth Thursday in November.

That’s the problem with living in one of the most prosperous nations on earth. That’s the ordeal with living in one of the most prosperous nations in the history of civilization. We’re seldom happy with what we have. We’re happier to think about what more we could have.

Perhaps it depends on the type of year someone’s had, but there seems to be a lot to be thankful for this year.

I know I’m thankful. In the past year, I’ve seen my share of good fortune.

My family now includes a wife and a daughter, both blessings I didn’t have last November.

I have a lovely home, complete with a roof over our heads and a silly knickknack with our surname next to the front door.

My industry, journalism, is heading into a strange, new world as we adapt to the Internet and what it can do to present the news.

I enjoy a rewarding job, full of challenges, successes and failures each day as we attempt to present a fair, unbiased account of our world.

I still have my hair, even if it’s turning gray on the sides a little earlier than I’d planned.

Things are going well. Even the parts of my life that seem unfulfilled still seem better than the alternative, an untimely early death.

Thanksgiving is the time to remember these things. It’s a pit stop between the insanity of taking a child trick-or-treating at the end of October and watching that child tear into gifts at the end of December.

It’s a pleasant enough idea to deserve its own holiday. It’s certainly important enough to spend five minutes to ponder what in your life deserves thanks to the deity of your choice.

Thursday is a fine opportunity to step back from the rat race of life and count your blessings. There’s a good chance you’ll find your cornucopia’s much fuller than you thought.