Obviously the thing that really struck me with this reading is the strong call for gratitude. It reminds me of something. It reminded me of something that I heard a couple months ago about studies that have shown that people who express gratitude more often are more likely to be happy than people who do not. Gratitude has proven to be one of great tactics for fighting depression in many people. This being true it would seem to make since that so many people in our country and indeed across the world suffer from depression because the act of gratitude is something that has largely been lost by many. I think the juxtaposition between the pledge and the thanksgiving is an incredibly interesting one. I found myself wondering if, like the pledge, there were those who refused to stand for this address, which is why I was very happy to see the writer ask the same thing. Reading through this address it does put into harsh context who many things the pledge of allegiance is missing. The idea of giving thanks to something larger than an institution, or an ideology is very powerful; to honor the life and earth that is around us, above all else. This address is in a way a new kind of pledge of allegiance in my eyes. A pledge to allied with one another through responsibility and reciprocity as she put. How can we serve and help each other, how can we pay it forward, how can we honor each other and the world by giving just as much as we're getting. There is common ground here that the writer talks about, a common ground between all people of the things that we can be grateful for, and she challenges us to do this with each other. How can we go past our differences for a moment and find the things that we are grateful for; and how can we help and heal each other and the world through this?
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