“Thankful” for you: celebrating, reflecting on Thanksgiving

Reflecting on the song “Thankful” and its message

This song was first shared at Thanksgiving a dozen years ago, a few weeks after President Obama’s re-election. For me it was a time of feeling hopeful as well as thankful. The outlook on life—for me personally, and for our country—felt forward-looking, filled at least as much with gratitude as grievance. While we might have still been living through tough times, we were emerging from the Great Recession and talking, naively it turned out, about a “post racial society.”  

Those days feel far away on this Thanksgiving. Stress levels are high today. While some are happy for our country after this most recent election, I am heartbroken. It feels we are a nation brought to its knees. Some in praise for the outcome of the election. Some of us in disbelief.

The history of Thanksgiving as a unifying holiday

A dozen years ago, it felt like kind of a fun fact to talk about how Lincoln had sent out a Proclamation in the middle of the Civil War asking everyone to observe the last Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving and to pray for “peace, harmony, and union.”

In our divided nation, this year it feels significant and timely to be reminded of all we have to be thankful for by President Lincoln, who continues to invite us, even today, to call upon our better angels.

At another Thanksgiving, in 1963, when I was sixteen, we were united in a different way. We, as a family and the country as a whole, were celebrating Thanksgiving three days after the nation had gathered (as one) around our television sets to mourn and say goodbye to President John F. Kennedy. We were a nation united in grief and disbelief. Even as a teenager living a simple life, I remember it as a time of deep conversations. A time that tested the mental health and physical health of a nation. Surprised that daily life could appear to go on as usual.

The inspiration behind performing “Thankful” with Mike McCoy

Mike McCoy and I met in the Fall of 1965. We both came to the University of Washington on football scholarships. We became friends and started singing together almost immediately. In some form or another, we’ve been going at it ever since—both of us with a grateful heart and a hopeful outlook on life.

Our relationship added meaning, depth, and another aspect of gratitude the Monday after Thanksgiving in 1995. In a moment of crisis for McCoy, he discovered there can be positive aspects at such difficult times. He realized that he was not alone—and, in turn, he found a faith he embraces to this day.   

Even nowadays, check-in phone calls remain a daily habit for us—almost like a basic necessity. Positive feedback and brotherly “I love you’s” at the end of those conversations are a regular gratitude practice. We have also gotten together the Monday after Thanksgiving for thirty years now in remembrance of a year that was and to look forward to one that awaits. At those gatherings “Thankful” is a favorite song.

Thanksgiving: A time for healing and deep conversations?

My recently redesigned website invites folks to come and enjoy a lifetime of stories and songs.

What I stated with confidence in that invitation was that there is more that unites us than divides us—like it or not, know it or not, we are all in this together, and we can find ourselves and each other in the stories we share and the songs we sing together.

And though that faith is being tested these days, with a strong heart I hold on to that belief in who we can be and the nation we all pledge allegiance to, “indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

Why gratitude matters in challenging times

It’s easy to be grateful when our side wins. But there’s a lot of talk about retribution these days. And maybe those people getting their “pound of flesh” will get something out of it. Yet I continue to believe that if those who feel aggrieved can offer kindness in return, then healing can truly begin. Acts of kindness can, indeed, be a path to a better life for all of us.

As a nation, I fear more and more that we are embracing coarseness and cruelty. Too often we ridicule and make fun of each other. And still I believe that acts of kindness toward ourselves and each other are important—maybe even essential—to understanding who we are together. And I will always be grateful for the kindness of strangers. 

Today I am thankful that many people I know feel the same. Thankful to those of you who took the time to be thankful here. Thankful for that and so much more.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.