Thanksgiving – a day to be grateful for all we have and to be thankful to spend time with our loved ones. This Thanksgiving, we need to be incredibly thankful to be safe, healthy, and happy. We must pray for all those who have fallen on hard times, lost loved ones, lost jobs, or are in financial trouble due to the pandemic. We must pray for the poor and homeless who are unable to enjoy a nice hot meal. We must pray for our soldiers fighting for our country and are away from their families during the holidays.
On Thanksgiving, it was always a tradition for my family to travel to my grandparents – my Dad’s parents’ house – who lived in the Bronx, New York. We always loved sitting at the dinner table and talking with family about politics even though some people sup-ported different political parties. It is depressing how the topic of politics has become a sour subject with our family and friends. We all have people in our family and friends who we know we cannot discuss politics with because it will make them upset with us. There is too much hatred between the two political parties. It is also depressing to see all the rioting and violence taking place in our country.
How do we fix these problems? It starts within the home. There is no better time to have these conversations within our families than during the holidays when we want to share love and holiday cheer. Sadly, many people have abusive family relationships and are being taught bad things, such as using violence and hate to express their message. We need to teach children to spread love, not hate.
Treat all people with proper respect no matter what color skin they are, what religion they practice, their ethnicity, or what political party they support. We are all human beings, and we all look at ourselves, open our eyes, open our ears, and open our hearts. That is how we will fix a lot of the problems that are going on in America these days. We need to stop using violence and stop spreading evil messages. In-stead, we all need to put love and good thoughts in our hearts and minds
