It’s tenuous to sit around counting my blessings, giving Thanks for so much God has allowed in my life, when there is so many out there who seem to have no blessings, who suffer, who have no home, no water to drink or for cleansing, no nourishment to give them strength, no peace, no justice, no safety, no hope, not even the dignity of being respected as a person, of knowing where family might be, but are rather tossed into camps and into heaps of insignificance because they must be immigrants, or are refugees, fleeing from wars, fears, injustices, from poverty and brutality, from rape and abuse.

Until there is resolution for these who are as much children of God as I am, I cannot rest, I cannot enjoy my environment or privileges, and all the conveniences and security goodness is supposed to bring. Until we take a hold of the task God put in the hands of mankind to care for the earth, the produce, the animals and everything in it, including, I guess, the weather, until we turn around on the path of greed and destruction down which we march so fiercely, we should not sleep, we should not rest, we should not rejoice because what we do affects all mankind, all the beauty of this earth, all the animals disappearing, all the plants and food which should be sufficient to feed the entire world. None of us, no matter what or whom we believe, can wiggle out of the responsibility to take care of this earth, our neighbor, our wounded warriors, our weakened elderly, and the children flooding the lands with no one to take care of them and to love them.

Grab onto your friends and take up a cause this Thanksgiving. That’s how to be grateful. God will rejoice.