Ten reasons to be grateful - World - following the 2001 terrorist attacks

We have been told that after Sept. 11 "nothing will be the same again." Is this true of Thanksgiving, too? Will Norman Rockwell and the family-turkey scene be lost as a memory? Might some other, more substantial and real ways of giving thanks emerge? In the Native American tradition there is a spiritual practice of saying "thank-you" prayers for one's enemies. Why? Because we are indebted to our enemies for bringing the best out in us. Many of our nation's abundant responses to Sept. 11 can be described as our better natures, having emerged from the situation. The following are some reasons to consider for giving thanks this Thanks-giving season.

1. The media are giving us better stories--stories involving real heroes, not just entertainers and sports heroes. We're hearing about firefighters, police officers and friends who have helped each other or who have stayed with one another as the World Trade Center was on the verge of collapse. The theological word for "hero" is "saint." It is good to know the ordinary people we encounter at work and on the public transit (and in the mirror each morning), who are potential saints and heroes.

2. The level of conversation has been elevated. Serious issues are finally being discussed. Instead of talking about the stock market, we are talking about evil. To talk about evil is not to think about Osama bin Laden, hiding in a cave in Afghanistan somewhere. It is to ask: How are we complicit with evil? How is our culture far from perfect, needing to wrestle with its own evil spirits? Erich Fromm, in his powerful book, The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, points out that if we demonize Adolf Hitler and make him the sole object for the projections of evil, we are missing the point. Germans with wounded and resentful souls elected Hitler because he appealed to them. So, can we, as ordinary American citizens, participate in evil if we are not alert? A raising of consciousness about evil is a raising of awareness about our very nature as human beings.

3. The young are considering better ambitions. They are interested in more than, merely, "How can I make $1 million before I reach the age of 26?" In fact, people of all ages are asking questions like: "What really matters to me in my life? Am I spending enough time with my loved ones? What will I do with my life? Will I serve? And if so, how? Or, will I work to hoard?"

4. Our nation is learning about Islam, its diversity and how not to stereotype all Middle Easterners. We are learning, we hope, to insist on peace between Israel and the Palestinian state. At home, we are learning to distinguish patriotism from jingoism and democracy from capitalism. This could lead to a genuine movement for democratic economics. It is one thing to have a political democracy and another to have an economic democracy.

5. We have also learned how generous we can be. So far, more than $1 billion has been collected from individuals and groups as charity donations. We hope that thinking of the "other" will continue to flourish, keeping the more modest charities in mind.

6. A real sense of community and caring is coming out of us. Our common grief puts us in the pool with other human beings who also suffer and grieve and "eat ashes" on a regular basis. To "eat ashes" is to taste the horror of emptiness and to feel the loss and the grief that ensue. Suffering unites.

7. We are experiencing, as a nation, the deep, mystical experience of nothingness and the void and emptiness that it creates. Mystics agree that this "tasting of nothingness" is a time of great inner growth--just look at the New York skyline and at the gaping hole where the World Trade Center once stood. This hole is a reminder that all things produced by humans will pass. And indeed, all things do pass. Sic transit gloria mundi. Letting go is good for the soul, even when it is not easy to let go. As one great mystic once said, "the soul grows more by subtraction than addition."

8. We are discovering new things about human nature. According to Thomas Aquinas, "One human being can do more evil than all of the other species put together. That says a lot about our species: we are very creative and, therefore, very powerful. How shall we use that power and creativity? Will it serve interests of greed and gluttony (today's word is consumerism), or will it serve seven generations from today?

9. The Sept. 21 "Tribute to New York" telethon. The media donated free time for artists to gather in New York, Los Angeles and in London to serenade us when we needed it most. This was a great moment for television. The artists sang free of charge, as well, while others raised money for the victims' families. This demonstrated the power of television and artists at their best and the importance of the arts community speaking on behalf of our souls about their grief, their loss and their longing for hope and community.

10. We have, once again, been reminded of the fragility and the preciousness of everyday life: the sacredness of breath, health, our loved ones and all our relations, whom we have learned not to take for granted. Perhaps this is the greatest gift of all. Meister Eckhart, the great 14th-century mystic, made two observations that seem particularly relevant to this year's Thanksgiving. He said, "All things bless God. Darkness, defects, even evil bless God and praise God." These 10 reasons demonstrate the truth in Eckhart's hard teaching. A second lesson he offers us is this: "If the only prayer you say in,your whole life, is `Thank You,' that would suffice."

Gratitude is so close to our being, to our being alive and to the reason we exist as a species, that it alone constitutes the true, meaning of prayer. And be sure to count your blessings--not these 10--but why not gather your family together and create 10 more of your own.

California-based theologian Matthew Fox wrote this reflection after Sept. 11, 2001.

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