THANKSGIVING: WHO SHOULD WE THANK?

Thanksgiving Day is more than falling asleep before a television set blaring boring, non-competitive football games, after over-eating
turkey and fixings. Rather, as the name implies, it is a day designated to give thanks. For what, and to whom, are we to give thanks?

Recently, I found myself shuffling through foaming accumulations on a bookshelf. The piles of stuff cried for attention. In them, I excavated a letter that my cousin wrote on December 12, 1944 to my parents. He was 20 years old and a soldier in Patton's "blood and guts" Third Army. He was a forward spotter for artillery in the Battle of the Bulge, which was characterized by hard fighting and hard weather.

My cousin wrote, in part: "Over here we had quite a nice Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey sure tasted good and also the chocolate cake we had. That sure is a promise to spend next Thanksgiving with you, if it is at all possible. Will be sure to have Aunt Mil make some good dumplings though! That's one thing I haven't had over here...at times it's not peaches and cream."

Obviously, and to be expected, his thoughts and unexpressed thankfulness were on the homefront. More broadly, it has been said that Bing Crosby's White Christmas was the most popular song with U.S. troops in World War II because it reminded them so much of home and what they were fighting for.

So, who should we thank on Thanksgiving Day? Should we thank the presidents on Mt. Rushmore who stood and still stand for America?
Should we thank all those in our military who stood for, and still stand for, America? Should we thank all the farmers and ranchers who have produced all the food that nourishes us every day? Should we thank all who have prepared, cooked and served that food? Should we thank all of our family and all of our friends?

All of the above-all that we ever have received, all that we now have and all that we will ever receive-comes from one person. Thank God!


© Daniel J. Kucera 2017

IDOLS

We are a country of idols. They can be movie stars, singers, political leaders, military heroes, etc. We embrace idols when they are living and erect statues of them to idolize when they are not. And, because idolatry can be fickle, we tear down statues when we cease to idolize them.

At a rest stop along Interstate 90 near Chamberlain, South Dakota, on a high, windswept bluff saluting the Missouri River, a huge metal statue of Sacagawea towers over all. The Shoshone Indian, of course, made a significant and probably indispensable contribution to the success of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery exploration up the River. The voyage sought to establish, in effect, an interstate highway of rivers to the Pacific Ocean. In point of fact, the Missouri River became an interstate highway between Ft. Benton, Montana and St. Louis, Missouri initially because of the fur trade. So, perhaps the location of this Sacagawea statue along a concrete interstate highway is particularly poignant.

Interestingly, there are at least 22 other statues of Sacagawea in 11 states (Montana, Missouri, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia, Texas and Illinois). One may wonder why another statute of the woman should be erected now at this rest stop.

It should come as no surprise that today many Indian reservations are located on lands that have limited agricultural suitability and limited water resources. It also should come as no surprise that many of these reservations suffer from prevalent high unemployment, low incomes, inadequate housing and other issues. One could question whether one more statue of Sacagawea satisfies any predominant need of any sort.

Indeed, there may be a certain irony here. Notice, in the above photo, Sacagawea is not looking over the Missouri River, which was the subject of her exploits. Instead, she is facing the rest stop building and its rest rooms, keeping a watchful eye on all who enter to use its facilities. Perhaps this statue is an idle idol.