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Thanksgiving Day is a time when our nation remembers its blessings and gives thanks to God. It is as close as we get to a government sanctioned observance with obvious religious significance.

We have much for which to be thankful as a nation, but this year of all years it seems to me those of us who will sit down to a table overflowing with food we had the money to buy and a home in which to prepare it should remember our neighbors who have no money, have no food, and have no table.

I’m thinking of those 2.5 million children who might spend Thanksgiving on the street and, if lucky, will eat a good meal in a shelter somewhere.

I’m thinking of the fathers and mothers of these children who looked for a job for three or more years and finally just gave up.

I’m thinking of the children who are one step away from being on the street because their fathers and mothers managed to find a job, but make barely enough to pay the bills…like the father in Atlanta who once made $300 thousand a year and now drives a delivery truck…and the father who for many years provided well for his family as a construction worker but is now a Walmart greeter.

I’m thinking of the fact that America’s middle class is disappearing, that income inequality has never been worse, that new jobs are paying so much less than old ones, that our government is making money off of loans to college students, and the consequences of years of environmental irresponsibility are becoming more apparent with violent storms and dramatic weather changes.

Some Americans believe this kind of talk is nothing more than running down our country, or is an example of ingratitude. Some even believe most of it is made up or doesn’t tell the whole truth about these people.

They can think what they want to.

I’m glad to be among those who believe our nation can do better than this, that we shouldn’t have children and their parents living on the street, that everyone should be paid a livable wage, that no one should live in fear of getting sick and ending up on the street, and that caring for the environment is a sacred responsibility.

So that is what my family and I will be thinking about this Thanksgiving…of how much better our nation could be if politicians would do their job on behalf of the common good.

We will be thinking about the social progress our nation would make if all the people who say they are Christians or members of another religious tradition would make justice their paramount concern and would let their elected leaders know how they feel.

In the fall of 1621 the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared a meal that is acknowledged today as the first Thanksgiving celebration in the New World. So it has been ever since, with few exceptions.

Life was hard back then, and dangerous. It still is for too many of our neighbors.

So if your life is good like mine, enjoy your Thanksgiving Day thoroughly, but also take a moment to remember those who don’t share in our bounty.

And at some point on that special day resolve to go the next step and let your faith inform your politics in a way that will make it possible for more of them to sit down at our nation’s table of plenty.