A moment of quiet time in an otherwise cacophony of noise on this Thanksgiving Day has allowed me to reflect on what I’m thankful for today.

I’m thankful for my family, our abundance and health, and that we’re all still alive. For those we’ve lost…there’s been an almost perfect replacement that’s occurred with new lives coming in after others depart.

I appreciate the turkey that gave up its life for us to eat it…though I’m always amazed by the fundamentalist view of the sanctity of life except for those in an uncertain combat situation, those on death row, innocent civilian "collateral damage" and animals who live in horrendous conditions before slaughter.

In a bizarre way, I’m thankful for the acceleration of technology and the Internet, which holds the promise of allowing the collective wisdom of humankind to figure out solutions to the problems we all share. I should also mention how incredibly thankful I am for the culture of participation that exists which is giving us open source software, Wikipedia, stupid viral videos, an explosion of opinion in blogs, and a level of healthy transparency that fills me with hope for our collective future.

Lastly, I’m thankful for humor. Listening to my 12 year old son howl with laughter watching Scary Movie 4 last night filled me with delight. We all search for joy, and I’m thankful we find humor.