Too many Americans 鈥� 27% 鈥� are experiencing a lot of sadness, according to the latest Gallup Poll. That鈥檚 up from 18% two years ago. National events, from a pandemic to racial injustice to a recession, have pushed many into desolation at a time of holiday celebration. A few notable families 鈥� such as those of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery 鈥� will be in mourning. In the homes of 260,000 people, there will be a chair made empty by COVID-19. For tens of thousands, a Thanksgiving meal was available only from a drive-thru charity distribution.
For most Americans, Thanksgiving Day 鈥� a holiday that invites people to count their blessings 鈥� has been reduced to a family-only, small-turkey, Zoom-waving affair, perhaps one without civic strife over presidential politics. At least 61% of people have had to change or cancel their holiday plans, according to a .
All the more reason why this special occasion for gratitude should be 鈥� and is 鈥� one of generosity.
During the first half of the year, charitable giving rose 7.5% compared with the first half of 2019, according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. That鈥檚 a hardy response during multiple crises. In addition, giving toward the prevention of anti-Black racism has climbed to more than $10 billion so far this year, or three times the total spent in the previous eight years.
Worldwide, philanthropy aimed at stopping the pandemic has reached $16.5 billion, according to the charity watchdog Candid. The funding is larger than for any other disaster or humanitarian crisis, the group says.
These figures hint at a deep stirring in the hearts of many. 鈥淧eople are looking to generosity as the antidote to their fear and their isolation and injustice and division,鈥� Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer at #GivingTuesday, told The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Gratitude is more than a looking back or a recognition of the present good in one鈥檚 experience. The apostle Paul writes of being thankful聽鈥渋n鈥� everything rather than 鈥渇or鈥� something. That requires engagement with others along with an understanding of the spiritual reasons for gratitude.
In his last Thanksgiving address as president, John F. Kennedy wrote, 鈥淎s we express our聽gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.鈥� In their first post-harvest celebration in 1621, the Pilgrims gathered to 鈥渞ejoice together,鈥� that is, to evoke joy in others. Their gathering was made possible by a compact, signed aboard the Mayflower, that called for the 鈥渂ody politic鈥� to enact 鈥渏ust and equal laws.鈥� They understood that a pursuit of equality 鈥� a goal not yet achieved in the American experiment 鈥� was driven 鈥渇or the glory of God,鈥� which includes a responsibility for the well-being of others.
This year鈥檚 wave of giving is driven mainly by the near-universal experience of the pandemic. 鈥淐OVID-19 has inspired a groundswell of response to human need,鈥� writes the faculty of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. They also see more 鈥渄ynamic generosity,鈥� or innovations in giving that are more inclusive. 鈥淓veryone has the capacity to contribute in ways that are not prescribed,鈥� they write.
Nearly 40% of Americans tell the online gift processor Classy that they are聽likely or certain to contribute more聽to charity this year than last year. As Cicero said, 鈥淕ratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.鈥� Among those virtues is generosity.
This year, gratitude is wonderfully high for health care practitioners, for volunteers and local officials who worked tirelessly to ensure the legitimacy of the election, and for all those helping to restitch the fabric of a people straining for wider compassion and equal justice. America as an experiment is genuinely important to the world, said former President Barack Obama in a recent interview with The Atlantic, because it 鈥渋s the first real experiment in building a large, multiethnic, multicultural democracy.鈥�
The founder of this newspaper, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote that Thanksgiving signifies 鈥渢hat love, unselfed, knocks more loudly than ever before at the heart of humanity and that it finds admittance.鈥� As a troubled nation pauses in reflection, all can share its blessings, casting them through the prism of gratitude.
David Clark Scott
