On this fourth Thursday in November we give thanks to God for the comfort and prosperity we in America have. We give thanks to the Pilgrims who took a leap of faith, making a perilous journey to a new continent. We also thank our Founding Fathers who were wise to know the proper time to rebel in order to more fully take advantage of their energeticness.

There are others we must thank – the industrialists who planned our systems of interconnectedness; the relentless laborers whose faith in God, America and property brought their bosses dreams to reality.

To round this off we must thank our civil rights leaders who challenged America to truly be religious, to truly be philosophical, to make our interconnectedness spiritual and our drive something that does not annihilate others.

Our focus should be on God. Without tremendous faith in God America would not have been the beacon of the world for so long and we would not have the wealth we have. America was the shining light of the world politically, economically and religiously no matter the extent of our injustices.

We were a balanced people. But we have come further and further from God. Our national leaders have become corrupt. Business and American citizens have become greedy.

Our religious leaders have made a mockery of religion and have abused their positions. Our injustices are no longer something that one can overlook, for there are so many at the same time in all areas of society.

Our faith remains, but it is a faith in expectations. We no longer have an agreement with God that what is most important is our goodness and our willingness to know when we have enough money, success and comfort.

We were wise and humble. We knew that if we were good and not greedy, and we failed in our financial goals, we would be blessed on earth with our goodness and in heaven with God. We knew that if we were good, not greedy and successful we would be extremely lucky and blessed.

Our good points were so powerful they overshadowed our immense evil. This shows you how great Americans were and how seriously so many Americans took words like honesty, truth and integrity.

Often people criticize the Pilgrims as being puritanical. But they were not.

We are. We do not value people who are humble and live simply. We say they are not realistic.

We have a relentless need for money, property, cars, a young image. When somebody says this insanity has to stop, that person is not listened to.

Our godlessness is far more dangerous than the religious conviction of the Pilgrims and the narrowmindedness of the Puritans. They made tremendous sacrifices and constructed stable communities.

We destroy our communities. Any sacrifice we make when young is to live a selfish life at middle-age when we should be combing talent, energy, sharing and good will.

We must regain our integrity. We must rebel against our last fifty years of greed.

God can help us do this. But we will need strength and wisdom. For when we begin to sacrifice our selfish desires to build communities and enhance our relationships, we will realize how unfree America is, how much we do not trust one another, how afraid we are.

We will be tempted to become frivolous again, not out of greed but out of terror. A greater sacrifice will be needed.

We will need to take risks like the Pilgrims did to attain religious freedom, like the Founding Fathers did to be free of a corrupt government, like our civil rights leaders did to attain freedom in their own country.

We need to regain our souls. We need to attain freedom in our own country. If we have the courage and wisdom to do this we will have something to humbly be thankful for.

Our wisdom can begin now. Let us eat lightly this afternoon, so after thanking God that things are not worse here, we will set out to make America once again the beacon to the world.

Copyright © 2025 by David Vaszko