Americans have much for which to be thankful

Sometimes it’s hard to see through the stressings to find the blessings.

Americans have a lot to be stressed about. Too many folks are unemployed, especially in our region, and even more are under-employed. Every day there is a story, it seems, that creates more cause for concerns and worries. People that we have looked up to as role models show they have clay feet, and it’s hard to look past the outbreaks in violence that have occurred in Missouri and other U.S. cities this week. Politicians in Washington, meanwhile, continue to bicker with each other rather than look for common ground that could benefit the public.

Indeed, there are many things on the debit side of the ledger, but the assets are so much greater.

If you transported an American couple from, say, the 1930s or ’40s to today, how do you think they would react? What would they think of all the things we take for granted?

We have cars, trucks and SUVs — usually more than one — parked at most homes. We carry phones in our pockets and we can access libraries of information with those very same phones. We can buy things with the swipe of a card. Airplanes can jet us around the world. We have medicines and knowledge that helps us control illnesses and chronic conditions that were fatal. Surgeons can take out many diseased organs and replace them, and install artificial joints. Satellites tell us about bad weather approaching long before we see the first storm cloud. Homes have central heating and air. You can watch a movie on demand in your home with the click of a button. We have machines that heat our food in seconds, wash our clothes and clean our dishes.

The average American today looks at those things not as conveniences, but as necessities. In truth, they are a wealth that our great-grandparents and their parents could not have imagined possible. Things could always be better, but they also could be much, much worse. We struggle with immigration issues in large part because others see what we have in America — lifestyles they can only dream about.

But more than possessions, Thanksgiving should be a time of appreciation of God’s greatest blessings.

It is a time when families and friends come together to share food and to enjoy one another’s company. It’s a time to reflect on the year as it wanes and to be thankful for the most wonderful gift of all — life. Some this year have welcomed new life into their families, and some have suffered losses. Even in those losses, however, we should be thankful for the time we had to share with those missed loved ones.

While today is a day when we consciously give thanks to God for what we have been given, we would do well to awaken every day with a truly thankful heart, a heart that always is full. And if we, as a nation, made a habit of doing that, we might very well see our way to resolving many of the problems we face.

— The Albany Herald Editorial Board