364 Days of Thanksgiving

I have been haunted by a tweet that recently appeared in my Twitter timeline. For those who don’t utilize Twitter, when you create an account, you can then “follow” anyone you choose (experts, celebrities, schools, companies, family members, etc.). When someone you follow posts a “tweet,” it shows up in your timeline where you may read it. Educators (and others) have created amazing Professional Learning Networks by following really smart theorists and practitioners. My own PLN is equal parts educators and Duke Basketball lovers (life can’t be all work, right?)

A tweeter that I follow, @WiscPrincipal, retweeted a tweet written by @Shira. Shira’s profile says that she is from Israel. That may or may not be true as you can list your location as being anywhere you want it to be. This particular tweet returned unbidden to me during the night as I considered its impact and again this morning, it continued to swirl through the morning fog my coffee is currently battling through.

@Shira said, “Only in America would people violently trample each other for discounts, exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have…” When I initially read the posting, I nodded in agreement, laughed at the irony, and considered retweeting it myself. I chose not to because I try not to ever be negative in what I send out. Yet, despite my moving on to the next 100 posts, this one lingered and lingers still.

A day after sharing Thanksgiving with family, friends, and neighbors for all of our stuff, we are likely to turn ugly trying to get more stuff. What an incredibly sad state of affairs for our society.

This past week at a ballgame, I had the opportunity to speak with the younger brother of a student. In the middle of our conversation about his football season, he shared with me how much impact our pastor’s sermon had had on him the week before. During the sermon, our pastor commented on how we spend one day being thankful and 364 days complaining when it should be the reverse. The message spoke to this seventh grader to the point that he commented on it to me at a basketball game.

Perhaps my mind is drawn to this powerful notion of truly being thankful because of a trip I will be taking in two days. I will join principals and superintendents from across the country on a trip to a poor, rural, mountainous region in the Dominican Republic. We are going there to help build a school for the children. The area is so poor that we have been invited to leave behind our dirty clothes if we would like so that they may clean them and give them out. Their needs are so great that they are excited to accept clothes I will never miss. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I will encounter there. Against that backdrop, Shira’s statement booms. Fighting for more stuff when others have no stuff seems sad to the point of being ugly.

The pastor is right. We do need 364 days of Thanksgiving.