THANKSGIVING, INDIAN, VIETNAMESE, FILIPINO, JAPANESE

Yesterday (November 22, 2012) was Thanksgiving in the United States of America.  Even though that day is passed, I, as a Roman Catholic, allow myself to follow the Catholic tradition of celebrating the important stuff over a period of 8 days, known an an octave.  So, in a way of speaking, today is as much Thanksgiving as was yesterday.  
On Thursday morning, I and Belle, you all know her as "The Voice from the Kitchen," were sitting there in the Church where we are convinced the start of Thanksgiving should be celebrated.
The pastor there is of Vietnamese origin.  He did what very few Catholic Priests do, he actually gave a personal testimony about his first and foremost reason for celebrating Thanksgiving.  It was the second time in my life that I had heard a priest do this.  It just so happens that both times it came from a refugee from Viet Nam.  I am going to relate these experiences to you as well as a third that I read from the San Francisco Chronicle some eight or nine years back.  Through it all, why don't you turn the corner of the page up so that you can try to find the one thing in your life for which you are REALLY grateful.
Yesterday's story starts in Viet Nam before the fall of Saigon.  The father was a soldier fighting against the Communists. He would be gone for a while, come home for a while and then leave again.  It was never clear if he would ever return to the house.  In fact, it was never clear whether the family would still be there if and when he returned.  By the grace of God they all came to the United States and stayed at a camp installed at a military base.  When they finally got out of there and settled, life really took a turn for the better.  The priest who was telling the story was fifteen years old at the time.  What is he thankful for?  He is thankful for the inspiration that God gave him to be aware that he was now able to plan for his future.  He told us, "you have no idea how good it feels that you no longer doubt that there is a future for you."

The first time I heard a Catholic priest give a personal testimony was on the occasion of an earlier Thanksgiving Day, some fifteen or more years ago.  He was saying, just as the last one was, that the best way to say "thank you" is to share something of value with someone who has less than you do.  He said that it was easy for him to do this.  The fact is, he said, that I know what it is to be comfortable and to be poor, really poor.  He said that when he was poor, he wanted to be comfortable, because comfortable was good, and poor was not.  He continued, "I am now comfortable, and I tell you without shame, that comfortable is better than poor.  So, if you are comfortable, join me in sharing something with the poor."  So, he continued, this is Thanksgiving weekend.  Don't forget that to share is to say "thank you."

The Editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle was written by an Indian immigrant.  This was some nine or eight years ago.  He enumerated some ten reasons why he was glad to have come to the United States.  He also said that he was not alone in feeling the way he did about his decision.  
The first thing he said was, "No, it's not the money."  In fact, he said, I am a well educated engineer.  I could make tons of money in India.  His reasons to be thankful included, near the top of the list, the following: I can work for the company I choose; I can quit from there and go to another company that I choose; I can marry the person whom I love, not the one who has been chosen by my parents; My children will be able to choose freely the school that they want to attend and be a professional in the line that they choose and I intend to allow them to marry the person of their choice.  

I am writing this because these are all items that we take for granted.  So what else is there for us to be grateful for?  I have been thinking about this for quite a while.  What is the BIG thing for which I should be celebrating Thanksgiving?  I have some personal ideas.  I had good, righteous parents; loving siblings; a kind and loving extended family community; good schooling; honest work all my life; a loving and giving spouse; kind and loving children and finally, a far flung community of like minded, righteous, kind and loving friends.
That's on the human side.  I am glad to say that I am grateful for the solid and unwavering faith that I live, great gift from God and nurtured by all the people named above.  

So to all of you, Happy Thanksgiving-mas.  It's not just one day, it is a season...make the most of it.  It is the closest thing that we ever can hope for that approaches a religious holiday in the good ol' US of A.