Connected To Home
As Thanksgiving approaches I notice excitement and enthusiasm everywhere for returning home.
In Robert Frost’s poem, “Death of the Hired Man”, Silas, an itinerant handyman, comes home to die at Warren and Mary’s farm. Even though they are not family and he has a rich brother, home for Silas is where he is connected by the dignity of work in Warren’s hay fields and a memory of teaching a college boy how to find water with a hazel prong. Warren’s harsh and judgmental vision of home “is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in”. But Mary with her mercy calls it a place “you haven’t to deserve”.
Connections To Home
However, Thanksgiving is more than going home. It has to be about understanding the important things for which we should all be thankful. For me, that means connections like family, friends, church, work, grade school, high school, neighbors, day camp, and the corner bar. As a nation, the further we get from home the less connected we become and more uncertain of the things for which we will take a knee.
As you carve your turkey and watch NFL football look at who and what connects you to home. Cherish it, nurture it and remain eternally thankful for a place you don’t deserve where they have to take you in.
