It
is almost impossible to write about Thanksgiving
this year, given recent events. The
ills that affect us as a nation and as a people seem particularly pernicious as
this winter rolls around. Predatory
(indeed, homicidal) police roam both large cities and small country hamlets,
our government spies on innocent Americans without restraint, and our
politicians seem engaged only in political games-playing while the nation
literally burns. Our policies at home
and abroad unravel around us while the criminally rich are getting much richer
and the poor getting much poorer. And
the Average Man, that once-great American invention, seems to have a big target
painted on his back.
Worse
still, as a people we have lost many of the yardsticks that made us great. Neighbors are balkanized into warring
factions, divided by our differences rather than united in our community. Cooperation, common curtesy, simple decency
and respect for one-another have completely eroded into the ugly spectacle of
everyday American life. A ride in the
New York City subway is enough to make even the most optimistic of us agree
with Mark Twain when he wrote: There are
times when one would like to hang the whole human race, and finish the farce.
And
yet …
And
yet … we here at The Jade Sphinx are
happy. We are not deluded that this is
not a particularly dark period in our history, but we also know that is not the
whole story. With a little digging, one
can find decency, humanity and compassion most everywhere.
We
see it in parents, couples, children, family and friends who truly love one
another. We see it in those few who work
for the common good rather than personal gain.
And we see it in the eyes of people who care for us, in voices when
lifted in song, and in the words and images of serious artists.
The
anarchy that surrounds us is not the last word; it is often just background
noise. How many of us have particularly
warm memories of periods when the world seemed most dire? The horrors of man’s inhumanity to man are
often sponged away by the bright furnace of warmth and humanity in their
aftermath. The good is not interred with
our bones, rather, the poison of our evil is diluted and the good remains.
And,
perhaps amazingly, we here are still optimistic.
Outside events shape our lives, but our internal outlook determines
whether we are happy or not. Life
constantly amazes me, and the simple fact that I am alive takes me by
surprise. Life cannot sour me because
I’m still living it – participating in the arts, laughing at jokes, enjoying
books, eating delicious food, leering at beautiful people. (We particularly like that last one.) How can life be terrible when there is so
much bounty to feed upon? Despite the
many negatives that life throws at us, we are grateful for our time, for being
together, and for the miracle of life.
My
goal during the past year of The Jade Sphinx has been to help, to some degree,
to illustrate that miracle, and to help illustrate how that miracle works.
Happy
Thanksgiving to you and yours. You may
be in the darkness, but you are not of it.
And
now … I think we can now safely think about Christmas.
Tomorrow: Back to
the Frick Collection!
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