I was channel surfing the other night and saw a short clip from the History Channel's "History of Thanksgiving." After a little discussion about FDR trying to change the holiday's date, it passed on to celebrations during WWII. There were pictures of soldiers going down a food line. The narrator explained that this was the first meat they would have in a couple months. A veteran took over the tale and explained how their captain suggested they give their dinners to the local children.
As I watched the film clips of the children eating and the veteran still choked up at the memory, I found myself almost ashamed of our lame contemporary examples of "charity." When have any of us actually sacrificed to give a small piece of happiness to someone else? How many people have you heard complain about the state of our economy? Do any of them know hunger or real need?
The people in my life who have the least would still be wealthy in many countries. I feel guilty for the riches and comfort that I enjoy. It's not that I want to lose it, but I have a sense that we as a people are not up to the standard that generation reached.
I think that perhaps we have lost our way, that we no longer understand what matters, that we can no longer tell the difference between the important and the trivial. We need to relearn values. We need to accurately assess the elements of our lives, to assign their correct values.
We need to remember that we live in mansions. That we have more than we need, more than we can even use. We need to remember we are rich.
But more than that we need to remember that people are more important than things. That time around the table transcends what is on the table. That today is a gift, something we were neither promised nor could earn.
Perhaps then, if the future calls us to show the courage and grace of our ancestors, we will have begun to be ready.
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