By Vernon A. Williams, Gary Crusader
While we should count our blessings every day, people take advantage of this time of the year for the most heartfelt thankful reflection.
Of course, all who can have these things should express deepest gratitude for the blessings of health, friends, family, careers, grace, mercy and peace of mind. No reasonable person would disagree.
As I pondered more deeply the national landscape during this season of Thanksgiving, I surveyed the larger society and came up with seven things that should merit a special word of appreciation.
In no particular order, here you go:
- Clarence Thomas better be so thankful that he stumbled into a good-paying job in which he not only doesn’t have to be accountable, compassionate or competent but can actually go two decades as the only one of nine U.S. Supreme Court jurists not to even open his mouth to question or comment, during or after trials. Now that’s gangsta!
- The producers of “Hamilton” better be glad that all the news about how poorly the economy is performing under the current administration hasn’t reached those tens of thousands of theater patrons dropping several hundred dollars a ticket to be part of their performance sold out through August of 2017.
- The 54 percent of white women who voted for a candidate whose message and behavior glamourized and normalized misogyny and sexual assault should be appreciative that election ballots are secret so victims of rape, sexual assault abuse, and harassment can’t access their contact information.
- Those in the campaign who regularly spouted blatant lies, careless half-truths and reckless misrepresentation of facts to persuade a gullible American electorate should be grateful for folks too dumb, nonchalant or lazy to fact check even if it’s as simple as clicking “Google.”
- Former presidential candidate Ben Carson who turned down a cabinet post, according to his top aide, “because he is a neophyte and that’s not his strength, he has no government experience, he has never run a federal agency, and because the last thing he wants to do is cripple the presidency,” better thank God he lost.
- The incoming POTUS should bow his head and tearfully thank God that unlike an entry level mailroom clerk or short order cook, the position of Leader of the Free World has no job description, experience needed, education requirements, qualifications listed, interview, examination or reference requirements.
- We all should be thankful for the cancellation of “Duck Dynasty” – whose star Phil Robertson said in an interview that Blacks working in the cotton fields of Louisiana where he grew up were “singing and happy” before civil rights, welfare and entitlement. “Duck Dynasty” ratings plummeted from 13.2 million viewers in 2013 to 1.3 million this season.
Well as we enjoy those we care about most, we should always be reminded that the blessed of us must be willing to help the rest of us. That in a civil society, we ignore cynicism and bitterness and look at one another as brothers and sisters – that we strive to lift as we rise.
And whenever the horrible political or crime news wears down your spirits, be thankful that there is a Savior who sits high and looks low and promises never to leave or forsake us. Shed the anxiety of worry to let go and let God. Have you noticed that 95 percent of the things that you fear never come to fruition?
Be at peace. And one last expression of gratitude. Thank you for reading this weekly column on a regular basis and often taking the time to share kind thoughts with me. Be blessed!
CIRCLE CITY CONNECTION by Vernon A. Williams is a series of essays on myriad topics that include social issues, human interest, entertainment and profiles of difference-makers who are forging change in a constantly evolving society. Williams is a 40-year veteran journalist based in Indianapolis, IN – commonly referred to as The Circle City. Send comments or questions to: [email protected].
