Note: This is a meditation I sent out to our partners and colleagues around the world, but it's just as true here at home and in our various efforts through Rotary.
Tomorrow we celebrate American Thanksgiving which traces back to a feast that occurred in the fall of 1621 in which British Puritans and Native Americans gathered to celebrate and give thanks for the survival of the colonists through that first winter in North America. While the events of that day are clouded in history and myth, we know that it was a moment where peoples came together and shared in a moment of thanksgiving for the gifts and blessings they has received.
Living only about three hours away from that spot, here in
Fairfield and working at Fairfield University, gratitude is something that we strive to observe every day, in
keeping with our founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola who placed gratitude at the
center of the Jesuit philosophy.
Beginning in 1538 in Italy, Jesuit schools and institutions of higher
learning have circled the globe and earned renown in educating generations of
students to be leaders and achievers, who approach the world from a position of
gratitude and who respond by going forth to, as St. Ignatius says, “set the
world ablaze.”
That educational project, which began in gratitude so many
years ago, has always been a joint venture of the Jesuits, lay colleagues,
parents, students, families and donors.
So as we look tomorrow to the celebration of Thanksgiving I wanted to
express my thanks and appreciation for all that you do for our students each
and every day. While we only celebrate
Thanksgiving one day a year, I am thankful each day for the privilege of the
wonderful and important work that we do and for the tremendous people that we
do it with.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Chris
