Hope Rises– At Kada Gallery
No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of night.
—Elie Wiesel, Nobel acceptance speech (1986)
Not many of us have had to endure the night to which Elie Wiesel referred in his 1986 Nobel Prize acceptance speech or in his classic 1960 book, Night, which recollected the horrors he and many others endured in the Nazi concentration camps of WW II. Most of us have not lived in war zones, had to huddle from bombs above, or hide away from those who would do us mortal harm.
That alone should be a source of gratitude for us so fortunate in that respect.
But each of us have endured our own personal kingdoms of night. Some may even be still in the midst of their own dark nights. Hopefully, these folks will make it through to the light of the new day.
Those who endure, regardless of the depth of darkness in their night, have a common denominator, which is people– family, friends and sometimes strangers– who help them find their way out of the darkness. People that recognize the pain and suffering in others and want to help ease the burden being suffered, perhaps as someone had helped them during their own past dark nights.
We all have those people who have made out way out of darkness easier and hopefully we have repaid their kindness with thankful acts towards them and similar kindnesses to others who still suffer.
On this day before our day of giving thanks, think about those showed concern for you when you were down in the past, people helped lift you up from those dark spots. We all have had these people. I certainly have. Some were friends, some family and some were strangers whose showed kindness for which I will never be able to personally express my gratitude to them. I am truly thankful for each of them.
Perhaps the best way we can express our gratitude beyond mere words is to continue attempting to help others find their way out of their kingdoms of night. There’s a lot of suffering in this world and if we would focus on helping others rather than our own self-interests and prejudices, we could greatly alleviate the pain.
Sounds naive and too simple, I know. But sometimes that is the form in which answers appear. And what does it hurt to try?
Will helping someone diminish you in any way? No. In fact, it most likely will enrich your feelings of humanity and sense of wonder in this world. Put simply– it will make you happy.
As author G.K. Chesterton put it: I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
Give it a try.
Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving…
Redtree Times 