Article November 19, 2001 Issue

The courage to be grateful

By Lois Rae Carlson

At times of tragedy and international crisis, the practice of thanksgiving needs to be carefully reconsidered both for what it is and what it is not.

First, gratitude in the middle of a bad situation is not a naive pretense that nothing is wrong, nor is it insensitivity to the suffering of others who are in a worse situation than we are.

When individuals and nations come face to face with evil, gratitude is the way we can rededicate ourselves to what moves us forward. In fact, the origin of the Thanksgiving holiday was the gratitude for good the Pilgrims expressed after a year of death and devastation.

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