http://www.thedarkglass.net/2007/11/23/thanksgiving/ trying to nail down the shifting signifiers Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:12:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://www.thedarkglass.net/2007/11/23/thanksgiving/#comment-2809 Anthony Velez Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:12:12 +0000 http://www.thedarkglass.net/2007/11/23/thanksgiving/#comment-2809 Simon, I agree with you that any day is a good day to be thankful. In fact, I think that the wisest, most enlightened, and best of us are the ones who live in a state of perpetual heartfelt thanksgiving. Also agree with you regarding the consumeristic shyte that has blighted our holidays. However, I utterly disagree with you regarding the silliness of setting aside one day for acknowledging our blessings and giving thanks. I think that we have been given the ability to structure our existence through the management of time, and thus we individually and collectively can reinforce certain realities by formally setting time aside for various purposes. Do you remember my homage to Reinhold Niebuhr? Reflecting upon the Scriptures and the Xain Tradition, he said that irony happens in our history (experience) when we neglect the two poles of our existence: we are creatures, we are creators. Consequently, as creators we can shape and influence our environment, in fact we are responsible to do so. Conversely, as creatures, we are shaped and influenced by the environments that we had a hand in shaping. Amidst this all, we can reflect upon our experience, analyze it and offer solutions to better our circumstances which contributes to our becoming better people collectively and individually. All of this to say that time is a resource that we can manage as creators so that the structures we have in place can more positively shape us as creatures. And, so, picking up on what Roger said, as creatures, we are pushed around by the busyness of our schedules, but as creators we can put structures in place to hold the forces of busyness in place and help reinforce a sense of thankfulness. Thus, Simon Jones, you are wrong!! Simon, I agree with you that any day is a good day to be thankful. In fact, I think that the wisest, most enlightened, and best of us are the ones who live in a state of perpetual heartfelt thanksgiving. Also agree with you regarding the consumeristic shyte that has blighted our holidays. However, I utterly disagree with you regarding the silliness of setting aside one day for acknowledging our blessings and giving thanks. I think that we have been given the ability to structure our existence through the management of time, and thus we individually and collectively can reinforce certain realities by formally setting time aside for various purposes. Do you remember my homage to Reinhold Niebuhr? Reflecting upon the Scriptures and the Xain Tradition, he said that irony happens in our history (experience) when we neglect the two poles of our existence: we are creatures, we are creators. Consequently, as creators we can shape and influence our environment, in fact we are responsible to do so. Conversely, as creatures, we are shaped and influenced by the environments that we had a hand in shaping. Amidst this all, we can reflect upon our experience, analyze it and offer solutions to better our circumstances which contributes to our becoming better people collectively and individually. All of this to say that time is a resource that we can manage as creators so that the structures we have in place can more positively shape us as creatures. And, so, picking up on what Roger said, as creatures, we are pushed around by the busyness of our schedules, but as creators we can put structures in place to hold the forces of busyness in place and help reinforce a sense of thankfulness. Thus, Simon Jones, you are wrong!!

]]> http://www.thedarkglass.net/2007/11/23/thanksgiving/#comment-2807 ROG Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:02:32 +0000 http://www.thedarkglass.net/2007/11/23/thanksgiving/#comment-2807 Nah, I think having a day of thanks is a good idea. Sure we should always be thankful, but sometimes, in our busyness, we forget. In fact, it's one of the few holidays I DON'T have a problem with. Nah, I think having a day of thanks is a good idea. Sure we should always be thankful, but sometimes, in our busyness, we forget. In fact, it’s one of the few holidays I DON’T have a problem with.

]]> http://www.thedarkglass.net/2007/11/23/thanksgiving/#comment-2802 Simon Jones Sun, 25 Nov 2007 03:45:23 +0000 http://www.thedarkglass.net/2007/11/23/thanksgiving/#comment-2802 We don't do Thanksgiving in the UK primarily because we are miserable gits. However, the idea of declaring one day for 'thanksgiving' is rather silly. Any day is a good day to be thankful for your blessings, and that one designated day can be the one day you don't show any grattitude and instead indulge yourself in shopping and all the other shyte they have turned it into. :-) We don’t do Thanksgiving in the UK primarily because we are miserable gits. However, the idea of declaring one day for ‘thanksgiving’ is rather silly. Any day is a good day to be thankful for your blessings, and that one designated day can be the one day you don’t show any grattitude and instead indulge yourself in shopping and all the other shyte they have turned it into.

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