It’s time to Break It Down!
This is a vintage post, originally penned November 24, 2010, and subsequently edited and re-posted every year since 2013, including November 27, 2013, November 26, 2014, November 25, 2015, November 23, 2016, November 22, 2017, November 21, 2018, November 27, 2019, November 25, 2020, November 24, 2021, November 23, 2022, November 22, 2023, November 27, 2024, and today, November 26, 2025.
Still, it was not a given that I would re-share this post today. As I weighed recent events, numerous options presented themselves, including, the political divorce of Donald John Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the still red hot topic of six members of Congress making a video exhorting members of the military no to follow illegal orders, and the subsequent retort of DJT calling their actions traitorous, seditious behavior, punishable by death, the fact that gas prices, which Trump and Republicans have constantly touted as being greatly lowered from what they were under Joe Biden, are now virtually the same as they were on Joe Biden’s last day in office, or my personal favorite, the Party that claimed the rhetoric of the left led to the murder of Charlie Kirk (asserting that only the left used such rhetoric, and/or were incited by that kind of rhetoric), now responding to Donald Trump’s rhetoric with withering death threats aimed at the six Democratic Congress members whom Trump labeled traitorous and seditious. There are others, but, after earnestly deliberating the question of what to choose for today’s topic, I put the matter to a vote. It was unanimous; me, myself, and I decided to go with Thanksgiving. If you’ve read it before, congratulations; take the day off. If you haven’t read it, give it a scan…you might like it. Lastly, if you haven’t read it, and you don’t want to, that’s cool too. This is America, and you still have that right. At least, for now.
As in the past, since it is Thanksgiving Week, this post will deviate from the standard fare. I know that travel schedules (in some cases impacted by weather events, and/or airport congestion), meal planning, family time, shopping, football, basketball, parades, and if there is any time remaining, relaxation, will be the dominant themes this week.
However, it is Wednesday, so there shall be a blog.
Those among us who have perfected humility, and ascended to a genuine Nirvana state, have no doubt also elevated giving thanks to an art form. The rest of us must fully invest in our appreciation of the notion, “That’s why we have Thanksgiving!”
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, which kicks off what we commonly refer to as the Holiday Season. Almost instinctively, Thanksgiving and Christmas come to mind. Yet, there is so much more than that to the Season.
Over the next 54 days, many of us will enjoy succulent feasting at Thanksgiving, exchange gifts and contribute to the needy during Hanukkah. We will buy, give, exchange, and/or receive, and (in far too many instances) return gifts at Christmas, eat, drink, and celebrate the 7 Principles of Kwanzaa, and party and toast the dawn of 2022 on New Year’s Day. We will honor the life and works of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on MLK Day. In addition, even in these tough (though improving) economic times, further complicated by stubborn inflation, this weekend, millions of Americans will pay (literally) homage to our most celebrated of shoppers’ holiday weekend, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, by rising early, and proceeding to scour the aisles for those perfect gifts…and if not perfect, at least cheap, relatively speaking. There are even some precociously enterprising businesses that will start the shopping clock Thursday (though, fewer than in the recent past). Sigh!
In some previous years, I have recounted my reasons for being thankful. This year, like most, I find that I have more reasons than ever to sit contemplatively in humble repose, and affirm boldly, that I know, without caveat, not only the goodness, no the greatness of God, but also of his inestimable and inexhaustible beneficence. I thank Him for deliverance, and for imbuing me with the sense and sensibility to discern the distinction between Kairos and Chronos, Greek concepts for God’s time, and man’s time, respectively.
In this the Year of our Lord and Savior, 2025, I have again been reminded, God really does have a sense of humor. We have survived 10 months of Donald Trump 2.0. I Thank you God, dearly and daily for your gloriously ineffable wit. Hallelujah, Amen!
Eons ago, when I was a college student, I pledged a fraternity. It is familiarly known as the Oldest, Boldest, and Coldest, but I digress. The point of this reference is that during the erstwhile pledge process, as prospective initiates, we were required to learn and recite several classic poems. There were many, each selected to convey a specific life lesson. In all honesty, being a man of a certain age, I learned a number of the poems in my high school literature class…a different time, to be sure. Some of the poems have stayed with me, but none more than Invictus, written by English poet, William Ernest Henley (1849-1903).
The Latin translation for Invictus is Undefeated. You may recall it, but just in case, see it below:
Invictus (Latin for Undefeated) By William Ernest Henley:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
So, as you go about your way tomorrow, and all the tomorrows that follow, recognize that Thanksgiving, at its core, is not simply a day on the calendar, or of the epic epicurean experience. It is a spirit that dwells within each of us, an impulse that prompts us to thank God (for enabling us to be undefeated), and a level of insight that compels us to graciously share His blessings with our fellow men and women. Indeed, every day is “A Time for Giving Thanks, Redux ’25!“
I’m done; holla back!
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Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box. Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invictus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwanzaa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year’s_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)
BREAK IT DOWN! 