Our world is busier than ever. We call on favors, receive help – sometimes out of desperation, and then conveniently forget the hands that carried us to the next level. Only memories of their shortcomings during the process color our minds as we convince ourselves that even though they were a lot of help, something they said or did just wasn’t fair. Yet, in the heat of our troubles, when we most needed them, when they were present and supportive, what did fairness matter to us?

It encourages our future aspirations when we can muse and deliberately recount the goodness of people in our lives. Grandpa is really grumpy, but he made sure that you got through high school. A friend that said an unkind word, but whose impact in your life gave you the courage to stand up to some of the most difficult times you have had to endure.

Thanksgiving is healthy. Not just when it is conveniently passed over to one unseen Being that benevolently manipulates everyone in your favor, but also when the benevolence of that Being is seen in the eyes of the instruments. If God does not force people into action, it means that everyone that has influenced you positively had a choice, and the right to decline, but didn’t.

I am never able to exhaustively say this, but thank you – all of you that have loved me in spite of me.

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