I think that Thanksgiving is one of the holidays we do fairly well here in the United States. I know that our celebrations are often filled with fictional, or at least very incomplete, history about the arrival of the Pilgrims, and the cruelties of colonization. I know that in recent years, the holiday has become fraught with politics and divisions between people. I have heard the stories of families who won’t be getting together today because of the toxic divisions that have come to the fore in the past few years. For some families the list of topics to avoid is so long that they feel it is better to just call the whole thing off.

Abortion, guns, capital punishment - these are divisions over issues that go back decades. To that list you can add taking a knee, cancel culture, LGBTQ rights, critical race theory, policing, and, to top the list, the insurrection on January 6, and the “stolen election,” which wasn’t stolen, but that isn’t an argument you want to have on a day devoted to giving thanks. And if these fissures aren’t enough, brought to light by the 45th president of the country, there is the pandemic that forced many families to celebrate separately last year and this year has become a topic to avoid in so many relationships.

Think about it. In some parts of our nation there were restaurants and bars that banned people from entering if they wore a face mask. We call this the land of the free, but in our land, there are some who would deny you the choice of wearing a face covering for you and others’ safety, because PPE has become political. Or consider the recent governor’s election in Virginia where the Republican pulled off a victory and where the Democratic candidate had a 14-point lead among those who had been vaccinated. We claim to be leaders in the world in science and technology and yet becoming immunized in the face of a deadly disease that has already killed 776,000 Americans is now an indicator of how you are likely to vote.

I get it, sort of. At least I understand the rancor that can divide families and make getting together to celebrate that which is good about life. And I know that there have always been divisions in our nation and disagreements that pull us apart. I know that Thanksgiving has meant hugely different things in our country if you come from indigenous or settler stock. I know that the celebration has been vastly different depending on which side of the sin of slavery your ancestors endured.

But I don’t really understand why we can’t set aside our differences for one day to simply express gratitude for all that is good and wonderful about the lives we live and the places where we have found ourselves.

I don’t want to make light of the hardships and suffering that has come out of the massive flooding in our county and in the country just north of where we live. There are families who cannot be in their own homes this Thanksgiving and who won’t be able to return to them for months. There are dairy farmers who don’t know if they can obtain sufficient feed to keep their cows producing milk. There are communities where groceries are hard to obtain because of washed away highways and railroad tracks. But one thing that has happened here, for just a little while, is that people have set aside politics to help their neighbors. I’ve heard it said that once the water got deep enough to cover up the yard signs, neighbors helped neighbors regardless of their politics. I’m sorry it took a flood to get us to treat other civilly, but I’m glad that we are willing to do so.

There is so much for which I am grateful this Thanksgiving. I think of a friend and high-school classmate of whom we have said for decades, “He was born in the wrong generation.” He is the kind of guy who would have been a great cowboy had he been born in the 19th century. He is independent, self-sufficient, and knows how to survive in the mountains without a lot of mechanical devices. He is good with animals, can calm a nervous horse, and has the skills to survive a lot of inclement weather. He has no use for computers or the Internet. He doesn’t want to deal with banks and credit cards.

On the other hand, I believe that I am so fortunate to have lived my life in the particular slice of history where I found myself. I grew up in the days when the church was able to afford camps and outdoor ministries, which was particularly fortunate for me because I met my wife and life partner at church camp. I grew up in a time when studying philosophy and religion in college was possible and those of us who did so were able to find meaningful work for all of our careers. Today’s students can’t even find a philosophy professor, let alone an income sufficient to support a family if they choose to study the humanities. I came into adulthood in a time when it was acceptable to marry before you had nailed down your career and when no one expected you to achieve financial stability before starting a family. As a pastor, my time in the church was a particular phase in the story of religion in America when the life of a pastor was compatible with raising children and one didn’t need to have a partner with a “real job” to support one’s passion for the church and its ministries.

So on this Thanksgiving I give thanks for my family of origin and for the family we have become with the spouses of our children and our grandchildren and a network of relatives whom we love and with whom we enjoy sharing our time. I give thanks for our safety in a sometimes precarious world. I give thanks for the gift of health in a country that has such a broken health care system that only works for those who have money. And I give thanks for neighbors, even those whose politics I can’t understand.

Happy Thanksgiving to you. I pray that you will find an opportunity to lay aside the things that divide us and give thanks for the goodness we can share.