It might seem a little harder than usual this year to find things to be thankful for, but it shouldn’t be. It is in dark times when light means the most. We are all lucky to have evolved on a planet where our type of life is possible. We are the first humans in our long history to be able to see what a sunset on Mars looks like, and to hear the wind blowing on the red planet.

This is my first Thanksgiving without my mother, who died last month. What great luck I had to share so many Thanksgivings with her. On Thanksgiving of my 14^th year, she thought I was crazy to pick that day to give up eating meat. Why not wait one more day and enjoy a last turkey meal? Even though it was confusing and more work for her, she learned how to cook some vegetarian meals to try to keep me healthy.

Niether of my parents grew up with great material wealth but they shared their cornucopia of love with their family, never more abundantly than on Thanksgiving. Giving thanks was an essential part of my life from the beginning and it is on this day more than any other that its healing power resonates.

I know a few people who grew up outside of America and who enjoy it more than any other holiday. Here is one of my favorite artists, from the UK, who obviously takes the day’s message to heart:

Are you going on Thanksgiving Day
To those family celebrations?
Passing on knowledge down through the years
At the gathering of generations
Every year it's the same routine
All over, all over
Come on over, it's the Thanksgiving Day
Papa looks over at the small gathering
Remembering days gone by
Smiles at the children as he watches them play
And wishes his wife was still by his side
She would always cook dinner on Thanksgiving Day
It's all over, it's all over, it's all over the American way
But sometimes the children are so far away
And in a dark apartment on the wrong side of town
A lonely spinster prays
For a handsome lover and a passionate embrace
And kisses all over, all over, all over her American face
It's all over, it's all over, it's all over
'Cause today she feels so far away
From the friends in her hometown
So she runs for the Greyhound
She'll spend hours on the bus
But she'll reach town for Thanksgiving Day
Come on over, come on over
Come on over, it's Thanksgiving Day
Come on over, come on over
Come on over, come on over
Come on over, it's Thanksgiving Day
At a truck stop a man sits alone at the bar
Estranged in isolation
It's been a while now and he seems so far
From those distant celebrations
He thinks back to all the mistakes that he made
To a time when he was so young and green
Innocent days when they both looked forward to that
Great American dream
Now it's all over, it's all over, all over
And all over America people are going home
On Thanksgiving Day
Now Papa looks out of the window
The sight brings a smile to his face
He sees all his children coming back home
Together on this special day
Come on over, come on over
Come on over, it's Thanksgiving Day
Come on over, come on over
Come on over, it's Thanksgiving Day
Come on over, come on over
Come on over, it's Thanksgiving Day
Come on over, come on over
Come on over, it's Thanksgiving Day