Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

My Point of View by Brad Kramer

On behalf of the Freeborn County Republican Party, happy Thanksgiving! As you come together with family and friends and celebrate this holiday to give thanks, I invite you to reflect on the many blessings we have. All of us are immigrants to this land, from some point in history. For many, the scars from persecution or famine in their homeland may still be fresh, as there are many places in the world where political persecution, poverty, war and famine are still very real. For many of us, we don’t have a single line of ancestry that brought us to this great land, but rather our ancestors crossed onto North America decades or centuries ago seeking a better life and we have some blend of different stories, ethnicities and religions that are interwoven into our heritage and stories, whether it was pursuing animals to provide food and clothing across the Bering Strait, fleeing wars or famines or political persecution from across the ocean, or simply seeking to live the American Dream. Thanksgiving is a time for us to put aside our differences and acknowledge that we have much to be thankful for.

My wife and daughter had the opportunity to join Grace Christian Church at their annual mission trip to the Twin Cities a few weeks ago, and it made a great impression on my daughter.

Life is still far from perfect in our society, but we have the opportunity to use our blessings to help others in need. Thank you to Pastors George and PJ Marin for organizing the event and allowing my family and others the opportunity to serve others the way Christ commanded us. For my daughter to see Rep. Peggy Bennett stepping up to serve others was a wonderful teaching moment for her to learn servant leadership. Our greatest leaders do not serve from ivory towers or capital buildings, but by example. It gave my wife the opportunity to speak with Peggy and get to know her in a very different light from the usual political events and community gatherings, and to see the love that our leaders like Peggy, George and PJ have for people.

Our nation has stepped forward at many points in history and modern society to make our world a better place. Whether it was being one of the first to eradicate slavery (which is still practiced in other nations), stepping forward to send our troops to Europe, Africa and Asia to stop the march of Hitler and his genocidal regime, sending humanitarian aid and support to nations ravaged by natural disasters and famine, or pursuing Capitalism, which has done more to eradicate poverty and misery than any other economic model in the history of the world, we have much to be proud of in our nation’s history. We have not been perfect, but we have learned from our mistakes and continue striving to make our world better.

Giving thanks to our Creator and to others who have sacrificed so we could have a better life is important. Many religions, philosophies and our understanding of psychology all teach us that we cannot have joy or peace if we do not have gratitude. Gratitude does not mean we do not reflect on what can and should be better, but that we reflect on what we have that was a gift, whether from God, from our ancestors, from our community or from a bountiful land.

I am grateful for the men and women who answered the call to go to distant lands and fight for our freedoms — freedom and security many of them were never able to enjoy themselves. I am grateful for the people who have worked hard to provide the food and goods we need to live. Farmers who’ve spent weeks in the field this harvest season, hoping to put enough grain in the bin or fatten their livestock to generate a profit to feed their own families. The American worker, like our linemen who go out in the most difficult weather conditions to get our power back on during a storm, our first responders who leap from their beds in the middle of the night and leave their families mid-meal to answer a call to keep us safe, or factory workers who toil day after day to operate machinery that makes our clothing, vehicles and other products we rely upon. I am thankful for our religious leaders who lead lives of sacrifice to lead and mentor us. I am thankful that my children have never known real hunger. And I am thankful for you, my community, where I am blessed to call many of you friends, mentors and family.

I am thankful for America and the rich blessings we have and look forward to continuing to use our favor to bless the world.

Brad Kramer is a member of the Freeborn County Republican Party.