Giving Thanks in Turbulent Times

A few quick thoughts about Thanksgiving 2008.

The past week is a case-study in contradictions. There was another huge terrorist attack, in what may have seemed like an unlikely place. Family members were forced to reassess their travel plans when protestors shut their final destination down. And I meanwhile, in a different world, I discovered, that of all things, there are wineries in Nebraska.

1) India:

That this happened this week should really come as no surprise. Islamist militancy has long looked for weaknesses when planning their attacks, and last week's attacks throughout Mumbai were proof that there will always be vunerable targets.

It serves us well to remember that India itself was carved out as a Hindu homeland, with the majority muslim areas spun off into Pakistan and, eventually, Bangladesh. While we may yet find that these horrible attacks were connected to the regional tinder box that is Pakistan, you cannot ignore that just as we learned in Oklahoma City, sometimes your own worst enemy can be your neighbor.

There was a time when I could very well have been in a lobby like the Taj Hotel's, with family worried sick the moment they heard gunmen were looking for people with American passports.

My thoughts are with the families around the world who lost nights of sleep worried about their loved ones this week, and, in particular, with those whose worst nightmares came to pass.

2) Thailand:

Usually when news of social unrest in a foreign land hits, you note it with a distant eye, hoping a country finds its way somehow.

I say that with the perspective of having once been barricaded inside a hotel watching the city around me go up in flames. The power of ordinary people to bring a nation to its knees is impressive.

With Bangkok now shut off from the world, it turned into a much more personal story this week as I realized that I had family in the region, expecting to land back in Thailand shortly after anti-government demonstrators shut down the nation's main airports.

Luckily they were still in Cambodia and able to rearrange their travel plans home. Their suicases weren't so lucky. They are still sitting hostage in a kept-baggage closet at their hotel in Bangkok.

I'm thankful that my family is home safely, now.

3) Nebraska

The Thanksgiving holiday, this year, was spent with family, as we're supposed to.

And while the incidents in Mumbai and Thailand were clearly in my head all weekend, I couldn't help but note that they seemed a world away from the old fraternal order club where we shot some pool, the lake on the side of a highway where we had turkey and homemade apple pie or the odd little winery on the hill overlooking some dams.

While our world is ever shrinking in this unsteady era of terrorism, upheaval and economic wariness, I was struck by the resiliency of family and community in the smaller world that is Nebraska.

I was jarred one night watching the local Grand Island news that they didn't even bother to mention the attacks in Mumbai, while the national news networks were on the story 24/7. It proves the point that sometimes what's local doesn't reflect what's going on around the world, and that's comforting, in it's own way.

My own personal world view definitely found contrast this past week with a world in which hunting season was a bigger topic of conversation. And in a week full of bad news, on top of the economic mess we're muddling through, it was nice to be easily distracted by the small things that really matter.

Thank you to everyone in Nebraska for welcoming me so warmly as always. I love you all very much.

As this Thanksgiving weekend draws to a close, I give thanks for all of my friends and family here in Colorado, across the United States and around the world. I am thankful for having you all in my life.