The Place of Gratitude
November 16, 2023
With the holiday arriving soon, many of us will likely turn our thoughts in the coming days to the things we have to be thankful for. Considered historically, we owe this time of thanks to the rhythm of the seasons, to celebrations of the harvest. If, like me, you shop for most of your food at the supermarket, you might not know whether this year’s crop was particularly abundant. Even still, it’s a curious if understandable fact that we set aside time each year for gratitude.
Of course, this is a time not only for being thankful. At this time of year we mark a range of anniversaries. Some are solemn remembrances of victims of persecution: Last week we remembered Kristallnacht and today we turn our thoughts to the six Jesuit priests and two other members of the community at Central American University in El Salvador murdered in 1989. Other anniversaries give us cause to recall the courage and sacrifice of veterans and, in the case of the Mauerfall, of nonviolent advocates for change.
While we set aside time each year for gratitude, gratitude equally requires a unique place. As I reflect this year, I realize that the circumstances in which I can experience gratitude are ones that are established in large part by what I receive from others. I am grateful that I have what I need, that I am not hungry, or lonely, or under threat. But I am able to experience gratitude because I have received from others what I need, because I find myself in a distinctive place that is relatively free from strife or struggle.
Here is the image of this place that returns to me as I’ve thought about it in recent days. Over the past few summers, I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some hours canoeing on the lakes of eastern Ontario. Even on fairly breezy days, the modest canoe still leaves an impressive wake behind it, a stretch of placid surface that spreads out in both directions from the stern, and lingers longer than you might expect. To my mind, that is the place of gratitude, the place that others create for us by the good that they do.
I have a few wishes for you in the coming days. Even if you’re traveling or hosting loved ones and friends, I hope that you find that place of calm for even a few moments. And I hope we all will devote some thought to those who are unable to do the same, and some time to bringing them nearer.
Dr. Timothy Brownlee
Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
