What keeps me grounded and thankful in this season

IN A YEAR MARKED by political vitriol in seemingly every conversation, a relentless scourge of political violence and the highest-profile political assassination since 1968, Thanksgiving arrives just in time. Truthfully, it always does. And it always reminds us that long before Americans were addicted to constant clickbait-driven outrage, ours was a nation rooted in gratitude.

- JOSH HAMMER

HOLIDAY WINDOWS in New York last year, when Hanukkah began on Christmas Day. The holidays offer a respite from our politics.

ALEXI J. ROSENFELD Getty Images

That sentiment can feel pretty unfamiliar perhaps even foreign - these days. Our national political and cultural discourse, especially online, has degenerated into a permanent fever dream. Social media, which at its advent offered the promise of greater community and interpersonal connection, now thrives on the adrenaline rush of digital combat. Seemingly every news cycle and every social media feed brings more reason to believe America is splintering into warring political tribes.

Yet Thanksgiving, that most quintessential and timeless of American holidays, endures. Thanksgiving, and the broader holiday season that it kicks off, is our annual reminder that gratitude is not merely just one sentiment among many - it is our core, the glue holding us together. And the more we forget this, the more we risk an irrevocable national unraveling.