Thanksgiving? What are we doing about it?

It is Thanksgiving weekend and I am at home watching some old movies. I recently purchased over a hundred video tapes (yes, they still make them) at the local used goods store for about 0.49 cents each.

One of the movies I watched was Apollo 13 and it really touched my heart.
There is a clip of when man first walked on the moon and as Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon, we hear the TV anchor echoing the words of the President. “One step for man and a huge leap for mankind.”
That one little statement made a strong impact on me. I had heard it before but it had never really affected me. Its true meaning eluded me completely.

Here we are in the final months of 2010. We have advanced technologically so much that I can barely keep up. We have made a lot of progress in the medical field and a lot of mistakes too by becoming slaves to the pharmaceutical industry and their profit motives. We have become more materialistic, more ignorant, more aloof and the more connected we get, the farther away we seem to move from the connections and relationships generations before us enjoyed.

Every year we celebrate Thanksgiving and have the traditional turkey feast while being thankful for friends, family and little mercies.

I feel we have lost sight of the big picture and the ‘huge leap’ that was talked about when man first walked on the moon.

We have disconnected from each other. The divorce rate is the highest I has ever been and hate, discontent and war are just ‘normal’ anomalies in our lives and we really have lost sight of who we are and where we are going.

It is important that we reconnect not just with our loved ones, but with the little semblance of humanity we have left to realize that the war, the hatred, the unrest, the materialism (that only puts huge profits in the pockets of the corporations) and the constant need to outdo, outwear and outshine others leads us nowhere. It just takes us to a lonely place that's filled with darkness and despair.

We need to reconnect with the simplicity of life, of love and of friendship that family friends and neighbors alike, bring into our lives. We need to reconnect and rekindle that flame of contentment and satisfaction that has almost burned out and we need to go deep within ourselves to seek and grasp the love for each other and humanity so that we may enjoy a future that is not one filled with war, hatred and strife but one abundant with light, love and harmony.