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Of all the days in the year, among all the joyous holidays we observe in widely divergent fashion, this day above all is the best American holiday. It is a day when far-flung families and friends new and old come together around the Thanksgiving table to renew their ties, remember the sacrifice and service of those on faraway fields and express thanks to their maker for the bounty we enjoy.
It is the best holiday because its conventions require no extended shopping season, no lengthy list of purchases to be made, no excessive decoration or rituals of music - just the coming together around a meal that represents in 2009 the sharing of a harvest bounty long ago when people of different cultures sat down to offer their thanks.
George Washington was the first president to proclaim this day, and Abraham Lincoln's in the Civil War was perhaps the most poignant, but we think Franklin D. Roosevelt summed it up in a particularly moving way in the depths of the Great Depression. In his 1933 Thanksgiving proclamation, he said, "May we recall the courage of those who settled a wilderness, the vision of those who founded the nation, the steadfastness of those who in every succeeding generation have fought to keep pure the ideal of equality of opportunity and hold clear the goal of mutual help in time of prosperity as in time of adversity."
President Obama echoed that thought this week in his Thanksgiving Day proclamation: "As we gather once again among loved ones, let us also reach out to our neighbors and fellow citizens in need of a helping hand. This is a time for us to renew our bonds with one another, and we can fulfill that commitment by serving our community and our nation throughout the year."
Just as the dark days of the Depression passed, so will the dark times of the recent recession. But so many of our neighbors in North Carolina and throughout the land are still suffering the lingering effects of unemployment, of homelessness, of hunger and despair. Just this week a new U.S. Agriculture Department report underscored this state's vulnerability to provide adequate food. The report notes that the state's rate of food insecurity and its hunger rate is above the national average, with nearly one-seventh of its households experiencing low food security. The rate of growth over the past 12 years tied with Maine and Missouri as the nation's fastest-growing.
This inadequacy, so closely tied to unemployment and so related to multiple social problems, is a stark reminder of the needs of our fellow citizens. It underscores the huge task facing food banks, urban ministries, rescue missions, soup kitchens, shelters and coat and blanket drives as winter approaches.
As this day of Thanksgiving turns into the season of Christmas and New Year's renewal, it is not only appropriate but vital that we do more than remember and give our thanks. We must also give our help to those who sorely need it. On America's best holiday, this is the American way.
