We Americans have more reasons to love this good life than the people of any other country. For that, we must always hold fast to an attitude of thankfulness
One of my students who was always in a foul mood made a disturbing comment a few days before semester’s end: “I’m so thankful the holidays are here; I’m sick of school.”
Asked if that was all he was thankful for at Christmas, he quipped, “Yep … what else should I be thankful for? And by the way, it isn’t called Christmas anymore; it’s Winter Break.”
When I mentioned the gift for which all mankind should be most thankful — Jesus Christ’s birth — he scowled and voiced an atheistic cliché: “Hooey, religion is nothing more than an opiate for the poor.”
As a college teacher, I am dismayed that nowadays some students not only seem to think that what they want can be gotten for nothing and that the world owes them everything, but also that they have few if any thoughts about world-changing events, some of which came at the cost of many lives — events that bequeathed to them the freedom to speak freely, worship freely, and most importantly, to live freely, in the greatest country on earth.
One of those events began on December 7, 1941, when Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor and destroyed or damaged countless warships and airplanes and left 3,700 Americans dead or wounded.
President Roosevelt spoke of that event as, “a date which will live in infamy — America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of Japan. With confidence in our armed forces, with the un-bounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God!”
Eventually, the triumph was gained, but not without a long fight and huge losses.
For that, all Americans must forever be thankful. But the liberty those brave men and women fought to preserve would not have existed if, 165 years before on December 25, 1776, an army of 2,000 exhausted but determined, fearless men, clad in rags, set out in rain, sleet and snow to make a dangerous river crossing, march ten miles, and gain a victory at Trenton, New Jersey, setting the stage for independence from Great Britain.
How can we Americans not be grateful for such selfless feats of heroism?
Thankfully, most Americans, old and young, know that when America is challenged she rises to threats and overcomes them. They are proud of their heritage and demonstrate that pride on special days set aside to honor those who have served in the cause of freedom.
On one of my most memorable classroom occasions, I was reminded of this when I stood behind the lectern to start the session. It was Veteran’s Day. Suddenly, all of the students stood and applauded. This old veteran could not stop the tears.
As radio personality Garrison Keillor said, “Thank You, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough.”
We Americans have more reasons to love this good life than the people of any other country. For that, we must always hold fast to an attitude of thankfulness.
Jimmy Reed is an Oxford, Mississippi resident, Ole Miss and Delta State University alumnus, Vietnam Era Army Veteran, former Mississippi Delta cotton farmer and ginner, author, and retired college teacher.
Other books by Jimmy Reed include The Jaybird Tales.
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