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I mentioned in an earlier blog that I would write another explaining to who or what I am thankful.
The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
There's an article over on About.com's Atheism site about Thanksgiving and atheists, arguing against the belief that atheists have no one to thank during the holiday. While the article brings up some valid points, siting as targets for our gratitude such things as people, scientists, modern medicine and technology, etc., as usual, the atheist persona online is a very stoic one. Matter-of-fact.
For me and, without a doubt many others, it's simply not the whole picture.
Yes, I thank the farmers who made the meal possible, the turkey who gave its life (unwillingly and unwittingly)... and not just at Thanksgiving. The people and animals who provide us sustenance are always at the top of my Thank You List, every day of the year.
But what about a particularly beautiful sunrise, or even an ugly one? (Is there such a thing?) A wispy cloud and a light breeze that takes me back 20 years to an almost-forgotten memory? A show put on by a group of birds dancing and twirling in the air over a rush hour-clogged street? A day which, for reasons unknown, is a particularly good one, where everything just seems to click?
For some things, there really is no one to thank, and yet I am still thankful. To whom or what you might ask.
To which I might respond, "Does it matter?"
So, during this month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful to the tangible, the people, animals, scientists, etc., for their particular contributions to life on Earth. I am also thankful to the less tangible and often nameless but no less important forces that govern life.. Mother Nature. Fate. Luck. Happenstance. The Universe. Everything. Nothing in Particular.*
*I assign no supernatural power to these things. Some are not even "real" (fate, for example), and yet there is a definite lack in our vocabulary to describe their equal and so I use the words anyway. Some atheists would cringe at my nod to "Mother Nature." I do not believe that nature is female, nor that there is a Mother Goddess, etc. However the symbolism of the female figure giving and nurturing life is a wonderful one that can be viewed in the same way Einstein viewed the harmony of the universe.
For me and, without a doubt many others, it's simply not the whole picture.
Yes, I thank the farmers who made the meal possible, the turkey who gave its life (unwillingly and unwittingly)... and not just at Thanksgiving. The people and animals who provide us sustenance are always at the top of my Thank You List, every day of the year.
But what about a particularly beautiful sunrise, or even an ugly one? (Is there such a thing?) A wispy cloud and a light breeze that takes me back 20 years to an almost-forgotten memory? A show put on by a group of birds dancing and twirling in the air over a rush hour-clogged street? A day which, for reasons unknown, is a particularly good one, where everything just seems to click?
For some things, there really is no one to thank, and yet I am still thankful. To whom or what you might ask.
To which I might respond, "Does it matter?"
So, during this month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful to the tangible, the people, animals, scientists, etc., for their particular contributions to life on Earth. I am also thankful to the less tangible and often nameless but no less important forces that govern life.. Mother Nature. Fate. Luck. Happenstance. The Universe. Everything. Nothing in Particular.*
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*I assign no supernatural power to these things. Some are not even "real" (fate, for example), and yet there is a definite lack in our vocabulary to describe their equal and so I use the words anyway. Some atheists would cringe at my nod to "Mother Nature." I do not believe that nature is female, nor that there is a Mother Goddess, etc. However the symbolism of the female figure giving and nurturing life is a wonderful one that can be viewed in the same way Einstein viewed the harmony of the universe.
1 comment:
I haven't really thought about thankfulness this way, but you do have a good point. That being, not that atheists should thank some greater being, but that our language is limited in expressing emotional feelings to situations we don't totally control.
I am happy that I have a wife that puts up with my shit. I'm thrilled that my endeavor to remain employed produces enough money to keep my family and I, fed, clothed and protected from the elements. I'm even quite pleased that I've been able to, through no little effort on my part, been able to consistently get up for work every morning and make it home every evening.
Perhaps having a wife whom refrained from chain-smoking and drinking during pregnancy was the real cause of my children being born healthy. I am thankful that she had the where-with-all to do that, and I am EVER grateful to her for that self-motivation. And no, I don't believe I need to express gratitude to the sky dude for either of them.
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