On Being Thankful for America at Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, no one living in the United States should be anything but profoundly grateful for the privilege of living in this country. No one. That's not necessarily a popular sentiment today. The country is amidst one of its periodic spasms of self-flagellation, amplified by political hucksters and charlatans of right and left (nothing new) and by social media demagogy (something new and ominous). And no doubt there's a lot to ponder, and repent of, in the American past and present. But that's true of every human society and will be until the end of time. What is worth giving thanks for in America -- what demands our gratitude and our prayers of thanksgiving -- is that the United States has built-in resources of renewal, as it has shown time and time again.