Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin MBE, JP, MLA

Two years ago we began a new tradition in the Cayman Islands – Cayman Thanksgiving – and set the weekend of the first Sunday in December as a time to celebrate, with activities beginning this year on the Friday with the Homecoming Concert at the Agricultural Pavilion.  Tomorrow, show support for our local farmers who toil every day to produce food for us to eat at the Mini Agriculture Show and Family Fun Day.  You can also take in cooking demonstrations, local produce, arts and crafts.  And for the very first time on Saturday similar celebrations will be taking place in Cayman Brac as they get into Thanksgiving spirit.

On Sunday, fellowship and break bread with one another around a traditional meal, a ritual that is at the heart of the Cayman Thanksgiving celebration.  Invite someone to your home and prepare a meal or meet up at one of our many restaurants that will be helping us celebrate our Cayman Thanksgiving.

Why a Cayman Thanksgiving? As Samuel Rose, a member of the team promoting the concept, penned in a letter last year, why not? He wrote that everyone who lives in the Cayman Islands is living in the 95^th percentile in standard of living and quality of life in the world. That still holds true today.

The Cayman Islands has been blessed beyond measure; as have we, by the fact that we get to live here every day.

The ability to give thanks separates us from the animals.

To say ‘thank you’ is to acknowledge that we have been given something we did not earn and probably don’t deserve. To give thanks, and truly mean it, is one of the most humbling things a man can do.

Don’t look to newspaper headlines to find a reason to give thanks. So, too, don’t search for it on your television or on radio talk shows. Instead, take stock of your life.

If you’re reading or hearing this, you woke up breathing. Be thankful.

Be thankful that we have escaped, unscathed, another hurricane season. Take the hurricane stocks of food and first aid supplies that you thankfully didn’t have to use this year and donate them to a food bank or make a basket of goodies for someone less fortunate in your community.

When is the last time you looked out into our sea and truly appreciated the wonderful place where we live?

Today – this weekend – put aside negative rhetoric. Appreciate the laughter of an innocent child, visit with your neighbours, show love to your adversaries, be more Christ-like and show love and compassion to your fellow man.

Are things perfect in our home, the Cayman Islands? No, they never will be. But our attitudes toward life can go a long way in improving our lot on Earth.

I think Jewish Rabbi Harold Kushner said it best: “Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted – a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.”

I implore you to spend this weekend being thankful and celebrating our Cayman Thanksgiving.

Thank you.