Here's A Thought: Let's be Realistic

Be careful for nothing, but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:6)

I am glad Thanksgiving is coming. It’s really a five-day weekend – nothing happens the Wednesday before, and it doesn’t end until Sunday night. I could make a case that the nation goes into “holiday mode” from Turkey Day right on through the Super Bowl, but that’s another column. This first celebration of the coming non-stop party (subdued as it might be this year) is a chance to relax and forget about the nightmare of the past few months. We all need to take a breath, hang out with friends and family, have some good food, and clear our heads.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not depressed, and I’m not cautious. I’m an American, so I’m into risk-taking and putting myself on the line. At the same time, I’m not a motivational speaker, pumping my fist and spewing catchphrases like “Positive thinking is the key to success!” or “Things are going to get better because we’re the best!” Pessimism and misery are as senseless as fanatical confidence. No, I’m a realist. I see things as they are. We all have varying degrees of problems to face and critical choices to be made.

I am nobody, and I am everybody, which means I am as much a part of the negative as I am a part of the positive. This Thanksgiving I am saying a prayer of thanks, and I’m looking at the chances and the dangers and the possibilities that surround all of us. There is an old adage that goes something like this: “If you’re not going through some difficulty right now, just wait, because it’s coming.” Well, it’s here. Time to be courageous. Bad news is not the story, how we react to the bad news is the story. Maybe it’s time to persevere.

Maybe it’s time to help someone else. There is poverty and plenty in these United States, from state-to-state, town-to-town, person-to-person, and brother-to-brother. I’m not saying it’s right, or that things have to be this way, and I’m certainly not making a political statement. This is the way things are. How do we handle that as friends and neighbors and families? Forget the leaders of the nation in Washington, D.C. and in the state capitols, because they proved to be so overwhelmed by having to deal with more than one problem at a time, they can’t possibly keep up. We are the ones who have to act in the moment, in our day-to-day lives, and we are the ones who will dictate what the future is.

If it’s true that the United States has reached a critical juncture, the correct response would be, “Again?” It’s not the first time we have had a situation that didn’t look good. A nice example would be those original settlers who came to this land. Protestants and Calvinists who didn’t have any history at all. Many called themselves “Puritans,” and they felt that wealth and success would come through hard work and saving their pennies. They didn’t need to be inspired. They read the Bible and they got to work. They weren’t depressed and nihilistic, which would have been stupid. They weren’t deluded and crazed with fanatic visions of grandeur, which would have been suicidal. They saw things with a very clear vision. They were realists. I think that’s a good way to go into this Thanksgiving Day Weekend. Enjoy it. God Bless You.

Taylor Mason is a comedian, a musician, a ventriloquist and a writer (he can’t seem to hold a real job). He has headlined every major comedy club in the United States, and has played Carnegie Hall and The Sydney Opera House in Australia. He has been part of two Emmy-winning television programs, which include his children’s TV show, “Taylor’s Attic.” Taylor works a mind-boggling 200 nights a year, in front of every kind of audience, and has managed to stay married for the past 22 years to his wife, Marsia. They have two teen-aged sons and live in New Jersey (the only state in America that uses air freshener … outdoors).