I stood in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts and looked at this paint--remarkable in the series of 4 Freedoms, masterpieces all! What struck me about this painting called "Freedom from Want" is precisely the lack of food on the table. Look at it. What do you see? Not much. However, I do see that everyone is looking across the table at each other. Do you suppose that the real freedom from want is not literally food but relationships--heart to heart giving thanks for each other? That's probably not what Rockwell intended--it is the turkey after all as the symbol of the bountiful banquet that is center stage. But! as with all art, once painted and released, it stands on its own--an independent messenger in its own right, completely open to interpretation. Albert Camus said that our deepest hunger is to be recognized as a human soul--and that without that recognition, the soul feeds on itself. The life of gratitude is every day's opportunity to feed and be fed in our relationships...just as the bread and wine, literal elements, become something infinitely more than any of us can imagine--such as our neighbor across the table in communion with us. Thanksgiving is a day away, alright--save the appetite--and acknowledge the deepest hunger met in love of God and neighbor.
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