A Thanksgiving Reflection

We need to recall that second half of the First Thanksgiving narrative, for its lessons are today much needed. As the United Nations Human Development Report 1998 noted, the gap between rich and poor (which Pope Paul VI called "a threat to the very future of the human race") continues to widen, and the Human Development Report 2003 shows that things are not improving: “The range of human development in the world is vast and uneven, with astounding progress in some areas amid stagnation and dismal decline in others.” The world's 225 richest people have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion, equal to the annual income of the poorest 47% of the world's people (2.5 billion). The three richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined Gross Domestic Product of the 48 least developed countries (sic!). In our own country the top 1% have assets equal to those of the bottom 90%. Meanwhile 35,000 of the world's children continue to die unnecessarily of poverty every day -- that's over 1400 children of every hour of every day of the year. The U.N. reliably estimates that the most devastating forms of poverty could be eradicated with an expenditure of some $80 billion a year for 10-15 years -- pocket change in a global economy of over $26 trillion. The seven wealthiest men in the world have more than that.


	A Thanksgiving Reflection

	Charles Finnegan, OFM Saint Francis Inn – Franciscan Spiritual Center 1802 E. Hagert Street Philadelphia, PA 19125 215/423-2859 E-mail: cvfinneganofm@aol.com

	The well-known story of the Pilgrims' celebration of the first Thanksgiving, the 1621 harvest and feast at Plymouth, comes to us from the pen of Edward Winslow. "After we had gathered the fruit of our labors," he writes, "so that we might rejoice together, with many of the Indians coming amongst us, we feasted and entertained them for three days."

	That idyllic narrative tells only half the story. Within a decade the Pilgrims would grow very prosperous, with the settlement of Boston creating a great demand for Plymouth corn and cattle. Plymouth's Governor Bradford noticed prosperity's harmful effects on the community: "as their stocks increased there was no longer any holding them together. All must go to their own great lots. By which means they were scattered." With increased Pilgrim prosperity and expansionism there was no longer room in New England for both Pilgrims and Pequot Indians, and the Pequots suffered the same fate as so many other Native American tribes: they were brutally slaughtered. The simple original church was abandoned as Bradford noted: "this poor church left forsaken of her children, like a widow, left only to trust in God."

	We need to recall that second half of the First Thanksgiving narrative, for its lessons are today much needed. As the United Nations Human Development Report 1998 noted, the gap between rich and poor (which Pope Paul VI called "a threat to the very future of the human race") continues to widen, and the Human Development Report 2003 shows that things are not improving: “The range of human development in the world is vast and uneven, with astounding progress in some areas amid stagnation and dismal decline in others.” The world's 225 richest people have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion, equal to the annual income of the poorest 47% of the world's people (2.5 billion). The three richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined Gross Domestic Product of the 48 least developed countries (sic!). In our own country the top 1% have assets equal to those of the bottom 90%. Meanwhile 35,000 of the world's children continue to die unnecessarily of poverty every day -- that's over 1400 children of every hour of every day of the year. The U.N. reliably estimates that the most devastating forms of poverty could be eradicated with an expenditure of some $80 billion a year for 10-15 years -- pocket change in a global economy of over $26 trillion. The seven wealthiest men in the world have more than that.

	As with the Pilgrims, so with us: increased consumption does not mean increased happiness. The percentage of Americans calling themselves happy peaked in 1957 -- even though consumption has more than doubled since then.

	As we give thanks for the blessings we and our nation enjoy, we need to recall God's original plan: "Since the Lord your God will bless you abundantly in the land he will give you, there should be no one who is poor among you" (Dt 15:4). Obviously that can happen only if the abundance created by God is shared equitably by all God's sons and daughters. If we do not work to bring that about, can our Thanksgiving Day celebrations be truly authentic?