It’s right there in the name of the holiday: Thanksgiving Day is a day for giving thanks. But to give implies that there’s someone to receive. To whom shall our thanks be offered? Would anyone like a hint? Our supposedly Catholic president appears to need one: Since the first Thanksgiving on Plymouth …
Category: gratitude
Nov 23 2023
A Double-Edged Gift
[This piece is an old favorite. It first appeared at The Palace of Reason on November 27, 2003. It expresses the meaning I find in the Thanksgiving celebration better than anything I’ve written since then. Twenty years later, it still rings true for me. Make of it what you will. — FWP] *** …
Mar 21 2023
Things Are Looking Up
Someone with my proclivities has to be reminded that happiness requires him to “stay close to home:” that is, to keep the greater part of his attention on things that are personally important to him, and to hold the “big stuff” that occupies the attention of the talking heads at a good distance for …
Mar 19 2023
The Pursuit Of Misery
The calendar makes this the fourth Sunday of Lent in the Year of Our Lord 2023. That makes this Laetare Sunday, which parallels in significance the third or Gaudete Sunday of Advent. These days are periods for a lightening of the mood that dominates the rest of the Lenten and Advent seasons. Coincidentally, March …
Mar 02 2023
An Attitudinal Imperative
And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. …
Nov 24 2022
The Secret To Happiness: A Thanksgiving Tale
[I’ve told this one before on a less conspicuous occasion, at Liberty’s Torch V1.0. Nevertheless, it is especially appropriate for Thanksgiving Day: a commemoration that was once much differently centered than it is today. If you are truly grateful for your life and station, turn aside from the food, the family, and the football …
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