Thanksgiving: a personal accounting

I have to confess that by nature I'm not very good at giving thanks. I tend to focus on the things personal and social that need to be corrected or improved rather than those that have fallen into a well-functioning complacency. Today is a day to overcome my disinclinations and count the many blessings I've received.

First and foremost I am grateful for the caring and supportive nest of family and friends that I've been lucky enough to settle into. Thanks to this little enterprise of blogging that circle keeps expanding, and although the acquaintances may be virtual and physically distant they are very real in the encouragement and hope they've provided.

I count myself privileged for the opportunities I've had. Thanks to the happy circumstance of the place of my birth, I've enjoyed the freedom to pursue educational and cultural resources that most in the world don't have access to. It's also much easier to concentrate on intellectual and spiritual growth when our physical well-being is not threatened by the lurking menace of poverty and disease.

It may not always seem that way, but I'm also thankful for these crazy turbulent times into which I've been tossed. We're a society and world in flux, and that appeals to the writer in me. Our suspenseful story is arcing toward a climactic resolution, and the outcome is very much still in doubt. I hope we can author a new world where the privileges and advantages that I've enjoyed are spread out much more widely.