Giving thanks.

Today is the day set aside to do something we should do every day—give thanks for all the blessings we enjoy just for being alive. Things that are ours through no effort of our own. Things that should remind us that while the world may not owe us a living, it provides one anyway.

I am grateful today, as always, for the alphabet.

The twenty-six letters, symbols, scribbles, given to us who use American English have provided me a long life of education, employment, and entertainment. Numbers and I do not get along. But the alphabet, and all that comes from it, is an ever-present friend and companion. Just think of a world without the ability to share thoughts, feelings, ideas, knowledge, and more through a written language. It is beyond contemplation.

Despite the occasional quirks and complications inherent in using our alphabet, and despite the hatred, lies, and cruelty some fashion from it, I am thankful today for the wonder of the alphabet and the many miracles it lavishes on my life.

I hope I remember that tomorrow.

Giving thanks.

No matter your opinion of the stories and myths and fables and fairy tales about how Thanksgiving came to be, there is no doubt we all have a lot to be thankful for. And it is good to have this day of celebration to remind us of that.

So, amid all the roast turkey and stuffing, the marshmallow-laden sweet potatoes, the parades and football games, the political arguments and family spats, let’s not forget to thank the Lord above and those around us for all that is good in our lives and our world. By any measure, on any scale, our blessings outweigh the trials and tribulations.

Happy Thanksgiving. And Thank you.