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Show By HELEN BRUGE VA'LLAGE W'AT I' tl' Thanksgiving spirit we bring to our holldnvT . rr,- Wo know what It Wns In the good old days when navnge.1 lurked and famlno stalked for the undoing of men and womon who, lucked uway In crovlces among tho nncestrU crndles, condlostlcks nnd tankards that cumbered tho Mayflower, wero finally dumped on an Inhospltablo Bhoro. We know what It Is aimed to be. But what In reality It Is, this spirit that Is supposed to run rampant on tho last Thursday of November? How ninny Americans oven remembor tho origin of tho holiday nnd tho purpose to which It .was dedicated, much less ovon sum up tholr blessings. Individual and national? Wo'vo had morry Thanksgivings given ovor to pumpkin pie, turkey and catching up brokon or stretched family ties; we've had frivolous Thanksgivings when wo have shouted ourselves hoarse and run tho risk of pneumonia for our favorite football horo, or. havo laughed and cried with tho rest of thq holiday keeping tnntlnee throng; wo'vo had sad Thanksgivings when loneliness has caught us In her grip and the memories of brighter, days havo soared our quivering heartsj but who of us has had a thankful Thanksgiving? Not many of us. If wo would bo honest enough to confess It. Yet why not? It Is what tho day Is for to tako stock of our bloss-Ings bloss-Ings nnd glvo credit for them. Who of us Is so down In our luck an to bo blesfdnglese? Surely In 3C5 long days there havo beon a few when something uood has como our way. If there hnve been theu It Is only good manners. If nothing else, to mako acknowledgment of them. 1 Somehow most or us are better mathematicians when wo reckon our woes than when our blessings aro computed. com-puted. No adding machine Is necessary to get at tho sum totnl of our misfortunes. Wo multiply with lightning rapidity the times our friends havo failed us, our business has como a croppor, or our health has gotio to the bad. An huiir of toothache makes moro Impression than n year without the dentist; ono stock that drops will cause moro ngony of mind than a twolvfimonth of In-' flntlon gives pleasure; a slight will rankle whero a kindness kind-ness Is forgotten. Wc can see how thoy, pbor hungry, half-frozen terror-stricken terror-stricken Puritans had much to bo thankful for; but If they had tho Indian, we have tho rnltronds to mutilate us. If wo haven't found any causes for Thanksgiving heretofore, here-tofore, It Is for tho good of our souls to mako a systematic hunt. Hest nsstirod It will not be unavailing. It wU make new womon of us If wo onco learn to reckon our mercies. Thero Is no greater sweetener or tho disposition and smoother or the tangles of llfo, than to think on (ho things wo hnvo to make us happy. It wo would grow Into sour, disgruntled women with whole baskets of chips on our shoulders and a bunch of grievances to mako us the terror of our acquaintances, let us acquire the habit of thinking all the world better off In blessings than we tiro. Tho Thanksgiving spirit need not, nay, should not be limited to ono day onco n year. Spread It over 365 days, and throw In the nights, hut mako Thursday, the 2Cth. n gala day of thankfulnosa when tho accumulated mercies or .many' months will ho summed up and gratefully acknowledged. ac-knowledged. Oratltude Is expensive or should be, so tho direct result re-sult of the truo Thanksgiving spirit Is to pass tho morcles along. , Prom our store of blessings some scraps should bo culled for those loss favored. Tho lonely, the sick lu tho hospitals, thoso to whom Thanksgiving Joys are unknown nil should come In for a share of our attention, that their day may be made brighter and they, too, have u chanco to reckon their cause's of Thanksgiving. |