As Americans, we often have a very different definition of “normal” than the rest of the world.
We think it’s normal to go to bed and feel safe at night. We don’t blink over the fact that we can say what we want about our government, our political leaders, and our faiths, without fear. We can play the music we want to, dress how we desire, attend the place of worship we wish, and move about freely within our country.
For many of us, the water coming out of our tap is clean, our cities collect our garbage, and we don’t have to worry about land mines, rebel groups, famines, civil wars, or outbreaks of infectious diseases hurting our family. While political discourse may be heated, we take it for granted that our elections are a peaceful transfer of power. We don’t go to our polling places fearing we will be killed along the way.
But, whether we realize it or not, these are all gifts.
There are many, many places in the world where that is not the case. I remember setting foot on American soil for the first time after my deployment in Iraq. I can’t fully describe the feeling that it brought, because it was mostly defined by what wasn’t there — the absence of the weight of body armor on my back, the absence of apprehension over a possible explosion or incident occurring at any moment. It’s a feeling of peace and safety that we rarely appreciate until it has been taken away from us.
This week, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, it is a good time to pause with gratitude for the gifts we take for granted so many other days of the year. It’s a good time to sit down with your family around the dinner table and come up with your own list of what you are thankful for. Here are a few things that come to mind as I sit down to make mine:
I am thankful to be living in a country where we can elect our leaders — where every few years the people can make their voice heard with their ballots.
I am thankful to be able to openly support my God, family, and country. No matter what political party is in power, that does not change.
I am thankful to live in a nation that was built on the foundation of right and wrong — where certain truths are held to be “self-evident,” like that every human being is created equal and endowed by God with the right to life and liberty. We don’t always live up to our own ideals, but we are a country that continues to strive to be a more perfect union. For that, I am deeply grateful.
I am thankful for the men and women who are far away from home and their families this Thanksgiving, eating turkey and stuffing in DFACs (dining facilities) on bases in Afghanistan, South Korea, and across the world. They are there because they have volunteered. They believe in this country, and they believe in a freedom that is worth fighting for. For that, I am deeply grateful.
We have many challenges ahead of us as a nation. Our political climate is increasingly divisive and we cannot afford to downplay the threats we face around the world from adversarial state and nonstate actors that wish to destroy our democracy and our way of life. However, the moment we forget all that we have to be grateful for as a nation, is the moment we forget what we’re fighting for in the first place. Stewarding these gifts is both our great privilege and our responsibility to the next generation.
Let’s never forget how blessed we are.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a Republican, represents Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District. He is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means. You can follow him on Twitter: @RepBradWenstrup.
