Commentaries appear at regular intervals. If you would like an invited commentary for your publication, please let me know!

Thanksgiving is a special time of year in the United States. All across the country families get together and share a meal (or two) and literally count their blessings. We have much to be thankful for, despite the fact that we are currently engaged in a lengthy war against terrorism. In a way, there are even things about that war that we should be thankful for: that we have an able and willing military who are winning that war and that the vast majority of Americans support the war effort and understand that if we lose this war we will have lost our freedom.

On the domestic front we can be thankful for an expansion entering its third year. GDP growth has been incredible the past few months and the job picture is improving as well. The United States alone has enjoyed lengthy expansions over the past two decades, broken only by short recessions in 1990 and 2001. Our preference for free market capitalism has proven over and over again to be the best means of enabling economic growth over the long term.

The most recent round of elections went off with few problems and our history of peaceful transitions of power continues. This is in stark contrast to other parts of the world where elections routinely bring about violence, military coups and rampant election fraud.

We have so much to be thankful for, not just this year but every year. We sometimes take for granted the privileges we enjoy as Americans, and forget the hard work that has been done in the past (and is still being done today) to establish and protect those privileges.

It is disappointing that the story of the first Thanksgiving is no longer recounted in many schools across the country. It is a story of bravery, perseverance, friendship and generosity. European settlers (in this case, the Pilgrims) in the New World brought over few things except some tools and seeds for a food crop. The Pilgrims built homes and farms out of what was mostly undeveloped land. The Native Americans in the area, who lived off the land but in many cases did not have permanent settlements, offered to share their knowledge of hunting and farming with the settlers as a gesture of goodwill. This is all the more remarkable because of the fact that the first contact between the Pilgrims and local natives was marked by musket shots and arrows.

The Mayflower Compact

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwriten, by the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc.

Haveing undertaken, for the glorie of God, and advancemente of the Christian faith, and honour of our king and countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by vertue hereof to enacte, constitute and frame shuch just and equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the generall good of the Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Codd the .11. of November, in the year of the raigne of our soveraigne lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fiftie-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620

The first official national proclamation of Thanksgiving was made during a time of great strife in the United States. It was in the middle of the Civil War that Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the first national day of Thanksgiving in 1863. That act holds a special significance today for those engaged in a struggle against terrorism. As families and as a nation we need to remember and give thanks for those who are sacrificing so much so that we may continue to cherish our freedom and reflect on our blessings each year at this time.

As we gather together this week with our loved ones, take a moment to reflect on the history of this great nation. Give thanks for that first Thanksgiving which marked a friendship between two very different cultures; give thanks that even in the midst of the greatest struggle this nation had seen we paused to count our blessings; and give thanks for all that we have now and all those who risk their lives to protect this great land. We truly have a lot to be thankful for.

We have much to be thankful for, despite the fact that we are currently engaged in a lengthy war against terrorism.

We sometimes take for granted the privileges we enjoy as Americans....

The first official national proclamation of Thanksgiving was made during a time of great strife in the United States.

We truly have a lot to be thankful for.