For me personally, Thanksgiving may be the most important holiday celebration on the calendar. In my memory, Thanksgiving was primarily a celebration of friendship and a time to reflect on the bounties, big and small, born of a strength in community – a strength that was fortified by the diverse talents and experiences that enabled goodness even in times of great difficulty and uncertainty. 

I remember having Thanksgiving in my grandmother’s house growing up. We celebrated with a feast for sure, often at several tables simultaneously with 30 or more people spread around the house, all day. In that celebration, everyone contributed something to the effort. All the while, my grandmother would quietly impress upon us to reflect on even the smallest of things to be grateful for, in our lives, in the lives of the people we cared about and in the world. She had a gift that way and from that gift I was given first-hand insights to the Battle of the Bulge, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement, the development of the polio vaccine and so much more.

This year, I find myself looking around and all too often I feel distracted by pain and conflict in our world. I know we mustn’t look away from suffering and evil, and in fact, we should look in and help to find ways for all of us to become a light that indicates a way toward peace: peace in our lives, in our work and in our world. At the same time, while we have to acknowledge what must become better, we equally should feel drawn to notice, honor and uphold the many blessings all around us. Being thankful is not to ignore harsh reality. It’s to recognize the beauty that lives within it, at the very least on a day that asks for almost nothing else.

I for one am incredibly grateful for the work that I am fortunate to do among this larger community that we make at Front Porch. I am particularly grateful for the openness and kindness that people throughout our organization have afforded me since the day I arrived. To be sure, the work that is done here can be challenging at times. But our shared commitments to one another, and to carving a better way in community together, can give us inspiration and strength.

As in my grandmother’s house, we all contribute something to the effort. And we are given the blessing of insights from diverse perspectives across generations.

I wish you and yours a joyful and blessed Thanksgiving with every hope that we can brighten our lights to not only illuminate our own path, but shed light for others around us as well.

My best,  

Sean M. Kelly, CEO

The post Giving Thanks… Finding Gratitude appeared first on Front Porch.

Designed to inspire hope and movement, it also inspires connection as the words weren’t only directed toward people of color. Legions of people from every race, creed and geography are part of the journey to help in assuring that indeed all people are created and treated equal and are deserving of equal standing, equal opportunity, equal respect.

Through the brilliance of his words, Dr. King celebrated the progress in our great nation while at the same time calling out our shortfalls, evoking emotion and inspiring action in describing what might be and what his “dream” may manifest. As we celebrate today and remember his words, I am convinced that we would not be as far along on our collective journey without champions like Martin Luther King and those that supported his cause, often behind the scenes, including Bayard Rustin, a key organizer and close adviser to Dr. King who chose a background role to prevent his sexuality from negatively affecting the Movement.

  
I’d encourage you to read the transcript of this historic speech; it moves beyond rhetoric and is indeed a call “for” action as much as a call “to” action.

I would also encourage all of us to take note in the possibility for impact that exists in each and every individual. Dr. King was a blessed man and his blessings remain unique as evidenced in how they continue to impact our world. But while Dr. King’s blessings are worthy of headlines, we should not ignore the many smaller blessings that may go unnoticed but also have the potential to impact incredible change too. This weekend I watched (again) a movie from 1967 –  “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”.  Released four years after Dr. King’s speech and two years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, this powerful and beautiful film hinges on the will (and love) of two people prepared to move into a new world in which they pray that they and their children will be judged on “the content of their character, not the color of their skin.” I’d encourage all you all to check this out too. 

There’s inspiration to be found and on this day, August 28th, it’s worth noting at least two things. The first is that Martin Luther King invited us to come together and move our nation to a better place by means of connection, understanding and conviction. The second is that fictional characters like Joey Drayton (from the aforementioned movie) and very real people including those among us would not have the same standing to move toward needed change without the courage of Dr. King and those brave people that supported his efforts six decades ago.

Beyond taking note and maybe watching a movie, I’d also ask that we all look for those moments where we can speak to the things that we care about that may have a positive impact on our own unique circumstance and the world around us. As much as we should celebrate, we should also be sobered by the reality that good work is ongoing especially given the awful events that went down in Jacksonville, FL this weekend and the far too many events in our country that remind us that we have to keep forging toward a dream that may always be just outside our grasp, but certainly always worth reaching for.

The post Sixty Years of a Persevering Dream: A Call to Remembrance and Action appeared first on Front Porch.