Perhaps you saw the recent front-page article in the Daily News, headlined “Request for no gripes draws plenty” (Nov, 21). The story recounted how a Missouri Congressman, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, offered legislation that would set aside the day before Thanksgiving as “Complaint Free Wednesday.” He did so at the request of a Kansas City area faith-oriented group that wished to promote positive attitudes toward life. In a letter to colleagues, Cleaver explained that the bill would provide a “meaningful and powerful reminder to prepare for a day of gratitude.”

As reporter Dave Goldstein noted, “the notion that on Thanksgiving eve, people might stop whining for just a day, take stock and instead give thanks would not seem to be a threat to the republic.”

Yet a bunch of good Americans, many of them alerted and stirred up by conservative websites, apparently took great offense at Cleaver’s idea. And they passionately griped about his proposed legislation.

It seems that people need little reason to get riled up these days. But to get so worked up about a measure that simply asks people to count their blessings rather than complain? Yikes.

Maybe, some would say, we don’t need another day for expressing gratitude. That’s why we have Thanksgiving, right? And maybe some folks don’t have many blessings to count.

I agree, many people around the world, and right here in the good old U.S. of A., suffer plenty. But most of us Americans are incredibly blessed, in many ways. I actually think it’s a great idea to regularly count our blessings and express our gratitude, whether privately in prayer or meditation, or publicly in worship or rallies, or whatever works best. Why save our thanksgiving for one day a year?

So on this Thanksgiving eve, I’ll offer some thanks of my own: for loving relationships with sweetheart and friends and family; for the work I’m fortunate to do and the place I’m blessed to live; for this miracle of a world; for the larger community of beings who inhabit the earth; for a life that brings me moments of great joy and, yes, occasionally deep sadness and bewilderment; for people and wild nature who enrich my soul and spirit; for all those who’ve touched my heart; for the many freedoms we enjoy in this country, including the right to dissent and yes, protest and gripe when we see the need; for spiritual growth and the understanding that there is no “one true way.”

I feel gratitude for all these things and more, not just today and on Thanksgiving, but whenever I realize how blessed I truly am, to be part of the larger miracle that many call creation.