The following is a prayer I wrote several years ago which we have used at our family Thanksgiving meals. I share it with the hope that some readers may find it meaningful during this Thanksgiving season.
Gracious God, we come to this table to give you thanks—thanks for the gift of life wrapped in wonder and mystery,
For the gift of family which nurtures us from cradle to grave,
For friends whom we choose and who choose us as sacred companions in this journey through life,
For the bounty of this earth that we pray we will never take for granted,
For joy and fellowship as we share a meal mindful of Your subtle presence and hidden providence,
For faith which reminds us who and whose we are,
And most of all, we thank You for Your deep and abiding love,
For it is Your love which guides and inspires our trust in You and Your will for us and this world.
It is Your love which keeps us from despair and allows our hopes and dreams to be worthy of Your faith in us, fragile and vulnerable though we may be.
It is Your love that brings light even in the midst of darkness and defeat, so that even there we might feel Your presence and know unexpected joy and peace.
And it is Your love, encompassing the whole universe, which allows us to believe and live as though You, in all Your compassion and justice, speak the last word for each and every story in this creation—including the stories found at this table.
Thank You, God, for being You—for being love—for including even us in Your heart which knows no limits, no boundaries, no endings—only new horizons unfolding in beauty, grace, and peace. Through Christ, Your love made flesh, we pray. Amen.
