Thanksgiving Day and the Powerful Play

[WilliamPitt]

(Photo: Lotus Carroll; Lost and Taken; Edited: JR/TO)

Thanksgiving Day and the Powerful Play
By William Rivers Pitt
Truthout | Op-Ed

Thursday 27 November 2014

Two hours ago, as of this Wednesday night writing, the ground around my back porch was brown and bare and sere. Where only scant weeks ago there was deep color in the New Hampshire woods - an astonishing riot of maple red and oak orange and birch yellow, the likes of which I have never seen before and may never see again, because it was simply that extraordinary - there are now only the skeletal fingers of bare trees holding court over a graveyard of fallen leaves. A few studiously green pines stand the watch, as they always do, but in the main, it is the Autumnal end of things in this particular patch of this particular place.

And then, two hours ago, it began to snow. The East Coast, from the middle of Florida to the middle of Maine, is getting slapped with a good old-fashioned early-winter walloper that is going to perfectly and profoundly screw anyone looking to put the rubber to the road ahead of this Thanksgiving holiday. I feel for them, I really and sincerely do, but the branches of the cherry tree are graced with two inches of latticed snow, the forest beyond is a laden mystery of white, and all I can do is stare out the window and wonder at the exchange of one beautiful for another beautiful as the seasons change right before my eyes.

(snip)

When we sit at table, there will be no place set for Pop, who has gone from us after Thanksgivings beyond memory. In Woburn, there will be no place set for my beloved friend and roommate and partner in crime, who passed last week. At tables in every city and town and village from one shore to the other, places will not be set for those who cannot sit and eat, or join in a laugh, or share a tale, or simply smile, because they are also gone from us. There will be a hole in many tables and many hearts on this Thanksgiving Day, and that is a truth of this life.

So.

Hold tight to who you have in this world, even if you're down deep in a ditch. I hope someone sets a place at table for you on Thanksgiving, but if not, remember that you're still here, and if you're here, it means matters can change for the better, because you're here. Hold tight to who you have, and tell those who are your heart you love them. Do not let the grass grow under the last conversation you had with one who is a part of who you are. I am here to tell you, from the well of my soul, that it is a savage, brutal shock to lose that chance forever.

We live in a world of shrinking margins, of narrowing visions, a world ruled and ruined by fools. This is the fact of our time, and no one is going to fix it today. Tomorrow, perhaps, but in the meantime, hold close what you hold most dear, and give thanks for the chance of that holding. If you truly appreciate what you have, no matter how mean or meager, you are doing it right. On this day of all days, remember where you came from, contemplate where you are, imagine where you can be, stand stock still a moment, and be thankful that you are here.

"That the powerful play goes on," Mr. Whitman reminds us, "and you may contribute a verse."

Contribute a verse. Because you can. Because you are here.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The rest: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/27694-thanksgiving-day-and-the-powerful-play

For Brian

[NYC_SKP]

1. Good post. Every day is Thanksgiving Day!

It's a great chance to practice the Eastern philosophy that is the foundation of the Japanese Tea Ceremony: "Ichi-go ichi-e":

Ichi-go ichi-e: This is the moment
Each moment is unique, the sights and sounds and especially people surrounding you, savor these!

But it's not only about the specialness of each moment in the moment, but that every moment is eternal, too:

Ichi-go ichi-e: Forever but never again
Every moment is at once fleeting and permanent in our hearts and souls.

http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2008/07/ichi-go-ichi-e-this-is-the-moment.html

Ichi-go ichi-e, my friends!

[yuiyoshida]

2. doumo arigatou gozaimasu

Thanks for this. I totally approve

[WilliamPitt]

3. Indeed.

to you and yours.

[WilliamPitt]

4. Up for the evening crowd.