{"id":331,"date":"2010-11-25T11:52:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-25T11:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving\/"},"modified":"2010-11-25T11:52:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-25T11:52:00","slug":"thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving.html","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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I try to be thankful every day.\u00a0 <\/span>Despite too-frequent annoyances, difficulties, and stress, I have a pretty good life.\u00a0 <\/span>Some of that is due to hard work and persistence, but mainly it\u2019s due to when and where I was born, to the family who gave me a good start, to the teachers who taught me, to the community that supported the teachers, and many people I don\u2019t know and will never meet.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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It could have been otherwise.\u00a0 <\/span>For many people, it is.\u00a0 <\/span>Am I more deserving than them? <\/div>\n
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Practicing gratitude reminds me that so much of my life is out of my control and that so much of what I enjoy comes by Grace.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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And so on this national day of thanksgiving, I thank my family and friends, who have given me so much.\u00a0 <\/span>I thank those who do their part to keep our country going, who make it work.\u00a0 <\/span>I thank those who defend this country, even as I pray that the wars will end.\u00a0 <\/span>I thank those who work to make our nation and our world more fair, more just, and more compassionate.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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I thank the deities who speak to me and whose patience with me is truly divine.<\/div>\n
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I thank Life itself that there is something rather than nothing.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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And I thank all of you who read this blog and who occasionally offer your feedback.\u00a0 <\/span>This is spiritual development done in public, a work in progress.\u00a0 <\/span>You listen, and you help me refine my beliefs and practices.<\/div>\n
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Happy Thanksgiving!<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I try to be thankful every day.\u00a0 Despite too-frequent annoyances, difficulties, and stress, I have a pretty good life.\u00a0 Some of that is due to hard work and persistence, but mainly it\u2019s due to when and where I was born, to the family who gave me a good start, to the teachers who taught me, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThanksgiving<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I try to be thankful every day.  Despite too-frequent annoyances, difficulties, and stress, I have a pretty good life.  Some of that is due to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thanksgiving\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I try to be thankful every day.  Despite too-frequent annoyances, difficulties, and stress, I have a pretty good life.  Some of that is due to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-11-25T11:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving.html\",\"name\":\"Thanksgiving\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-11-25T11:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-11-25T11:52:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"I try to be thankful every day.  Despite too-frequent annoyances, difficulties, and stress, I have a pretty good life.  Some of that is due to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/thanksgiving.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thanksgiving\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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