Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving Day

In order to combat that dark disease that troubles my life almost daily--but less so now that I'm back West, I thought it only fitting on Thanksgiving Day to find things for which to give thanks.

I'm thankful for life, work, and family. I'm thankful for the importance I and other members of my family are to one another. I'm thankful for my ancestors whose lives led the way; I'm thankful that I can still be pleasant when I talk to my grandson, newly enlisted and trained in the Army National Guard for Arizona, that we don't raise our voices when expressing opposing positions concerning the war.

I'm thankful to accept the offerings of family even when they've no clue of the value of reading and ideas and how much I love them. I'm thankful for being able to truly help my students even when I'm not at my best. I'm thankful for my students for they lift my soul when it wants to droop and flounder.

In a personal area, I'm thankful for learning to handle my own problems as I once did. I'm glad to be alive and thankful that others seem to be thankful for my life.

I"m thankful for my love of learning and politics and life.
I'm thankful for the hundreds of people whose writings keep me alert and laughing if not screaming.



Alec Baldwin a wonderful actor who is increasingly gaining my admiration for his public positions on peace/war/ left/right issues, wrote a blog entry giving thanks for service men and women. In it he thanks the men and women serving in our armed services. His post begins a bit defensive by stating that it may be a bit "corny" to thank our troops. The remainder of his post went to the point. My response to Mr. Baldwin should I ever get the opportunity to meet a high powered actor would be to state that Thanking people for their service to our country regardless of our position on the war in which the troops serve is never corny. Overall, Baldwin's post made a day that started off questionably end quite well.

Luisa

From Ariana Huffington

MIlitary Standards?

A recent article posted on the RFP list ignites my response. In an effort to camouflage its inadequacies the department of war aka department of defense has been giving criminals and drug users waivers for entering the armed services. This is a typical response of those who would protect us from the terrorists. Are we endangering our armed services? I don't know. However, the lower standards can potentially pose serious problems should a future or current enemy of our state want to find weakness in our defense. More later as this is a rushed writing job.

Blog for Peace in Munich

While avoiding my usual heavy reading load, I took a time out to go through blogs dedicated to peace and found one honoring Rachel Corrie. I'll have to share this with Harriet who has worked tirelessly for remembering the brave young woman who worked for peace for Palestinians.

Volunteering

I thought I'd do something productive for the coming elections. Okay, I'm a cynic even when I try not to be. Cynicism interferes with higher spiritual goals. However, I thought I'd begin calling other voters to encourage them to vote. The first caller hung up on me but I persisted. Since it is Saturday, many people were out and about. An older Missouri person disclosed nothing of her intentions so I engaged in friendly non committal conversation so that the next caller who calls her will not get a "hang" up when they attempt to nail down her preferences.

I'm not very good, I learned, at "closing in on people" to persuade them to vote the direction I'd like for them to vote.

This bodes ill for my rhetorical skills but well for my spiritual practices.

The Day of the Dead

I've written of this elsewhere. The this is lighting candles in memory of those from our family who have died. As I wrote of my mother's lighting candles in the sturdy tubs in New York during the 1950s, a new thought came to me. What if we all took time out to reflect? What if we made a conscious effort to meditate on who we are and what we do and most importantly what we want and need from our interactions with others?

I try to teach reflection in the classes I teach, but the personal reflection I think of if widely practiced by a large number of people could lead to less temptation to rush headlong into the actions that harm us and society. Increasingly, I borrow from my cousin's practice in PR. Using kind terms of address in place of harsh or sarcastic ones among my colleagues or friends, reducing the number of sarcastic wisecracks all these steps, it is my hope, will lead me to a greater place of peace.

Perhaps, I can once again place myself on that sail boat on the big sea that lolls me to a greater sense of peace.