The Funny Pages: Phil Spectacle Holiday Episode

Phil and Rache celebrate Thanksgiving, each in their own way…

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Lest We Forget This Thanksgiving

I came across this image recently and I was struck by its power to communicate, and reminded that despite the recent election hoopla in this country, and despite all of the mistakes and crimes of the past eight years in the United States that I would like to see redressed, most all of us in this country are still relatively fortunate in our lives here.

The image is of a family fleeing the violence occurring in the Congo.  Approximately one million people have been displaced by the current conflict between rebel and government forces.  I don’t understand all of the underlying details and history of events that have led up to the current violence in the Congo, but I have read that it may tie back to the genocide in Rawanda, and it has also been reported that children are  being conscripted in to the fighting.

The scene depicted in the image above is repeated every day, in almost every corner of the globe.  It is a scene that has been a part of the human condition for time immemorial, and I suspect it is a scene that will repeat itself long after I am gone from this life.

I will be supervising the preparation of Thanksgiving dinner at our house tomorrow, and will be enjoying the bounty of our table and the company of my family, will be appreciating the freedoms that I and my family have, and will be savoring a life of fulfillment.  But I will also be thinking of those fellow human beings who may be going hungry tomorrow, who may be scratching out a barely sustainable existence, who may  be living with fear, repression and state violence, and I will wonder, by what alignment of stars and planets, by what chance of survival of my predecessors,  by what chance of birth and circumstance, how I ended up so fortunate, and what my responsibilities in life are in exchange for my good fortune.

Kudakwashe Chiveura digs for crickets to eat in Mutoko about 250 kilometres, (155 miles) north east of Harare, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008. Grazing land has been razed by poachers burning  the bush to scare rock rabbits, rodents and small animals for the cooking pot into  traps and nets as people look for food..Jackals, baboons and goats also compete with villagers for roots and wild fruits according to witness accounts. The United Nations has forecast a full scale humanitarian crisis and estimates more than  5 million people, about half the population will need  food aid by the beginning of next year. Inflation in Zimbabwe, the highest in the world, pegged at over 213 million percent has spiraled out of control at a time when health and education services have collapsed. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Those thoughts will serve me well to spend the next 365 days trying to live a useful life.

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thankful

Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can’t see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can’t see.
It’s up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There’s so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves
There’s so much sorrow
It’s way too late to say
I’ll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It’s so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can’t see
It’s up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There’s so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences
There is a place we’re all connected
Each of us can find each other’s light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can’t see
It’s up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more

There’s so much to be thankful for

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