Thanksgiving weekend got me thinking about the balance of joys and sorrows that we experience. It is a great joy to take my sister-in-law annually to State College, PA for a Thanksgiving visit with her son (my nephew) and family. This year they decorated for Christmas early, and I was captivated by the dozens of holiday photos of their two children. It brought me such joy, I took photos of them hoping I’d be inspired to share in a newsletter blog. The theme of joy is also on my mind as I prepare a Unity Center church talk for this Sunday on joy in recognition of December 7 National Joy Day. Make it a point to treat yourself to joy and spread joy!

Yet life is full of contrasts, and sorrow is a reality. Another Thanksgiving tradition of mine is to acknowledge the realities of our complex history with the Indigenous people of this land. Usually I do so with a monetary contribution and lately also with a resolve to learn more about our shared history. 

This year, I watched the stunning 2024 National Geographic award-winning documentary, Sugarcane. It illuminates a community breaking cycles of generational trauma during an investigation into abuse and missing children at a nearby Indian Residential School run by the Catholic church. Although set in Canada, there have been 526 of these boarding schools identified in the United States established by the government and Christian churches in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The history and purpose was to wipe out Indigenous culture and assimilate children into the dominate white culture, dramatically noted by Richard Henry Pratt founder of the Carlisle (PA) Indian Industrial School: “Kill the Indian in him and save the man.”