Images of America’s early European settlers breaking bread with Native Americans in the first official Thanksgiving celebration are quaint and iconic.

It’s what drives kindergartners to don paper sacks and construction paper costumes to portray the look of the original pilgrims and Indians and even the occasional turkey.

Unfortunately, much of what our modern history has conjured up may be more fiction than fact, but today’s celebration is rooted in a deep appreciation for just how blessed we are as a country.

It’s easy to become jaded and blind to that simple fact, particularly after the global financial meltdown of the past few years and slow crawl back to a more normalized world economy.

But make no mistake about it, America is blessed — massively so.

Even many of our poorest citizens are, by global standards, rich by comparison.

Statistics show that globally, approximately 1 in 7 people are hungry in the world. Most Americans who own an automobile and get three meals a day are in the top 1 percent of the richest people in the world.

UNICEF reports that approximately 19,000 children die each day from preventable problems such as disease, malnutrition and unsafe drinking water.

Such statistics makes America’s “problems” seem far less dire. While we fuss about whether our favorite sports team will win their bowl game or if Congress will avoid the fiscal cliff, millions of our world’s population will die from things we could all help prevent.

As we pause today to celebrate Thanksgiving and count the blessings God has provided us, let us also remember that He instructed us to care for one another as well.