Thanksgiving Day Prayer

 

The greatest gift one can give is thanksgiving. In giving gifts, we give what we can spare, but in giving thanks we give ourselves. —Brother David Steindl-Rast, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

Breathe in God’s thanksgiving, breathe out moments where gratitude is difficult.

Breathe in God’s wholeness, breathe out that which is incomplete or left undone.

Breathe in God’s peacefulness, breathe out the to-do lists and voices that tell you it’s not enough.

Breathe and be on this Thanksgiving Day.

 

Hold in your hands a moment this past year when joy was tactile, and you could taste the sweetness of love on the tip of your tongue.  For me that was Easter morning, my son’s graduation, dropping him off at college, my daughter starting her Senior year, seeing my family after COVID kept us apart, writing these mediations, preaching on Sundays, holding hands in prayer, studying scripture, petting our dogs, weathering Hurricane Ian, and the support of my wife ~ it is easier to preach about unconditional love when you encounter this as a reality every day.

 

Hold in your heart moments this past year when things were not so great ~ knowing that pain that isn’t processed is passed along.  I grieve those who are now in God’s eternal embrace.  I grieve a world that is bickering and back-biting.  I grieve Thanksgiving tables today where all are not welcome, and others sit silently in emotional pain.  I grieve those who feel alone and wonder if anyone cares.  I hold those who are facing medical appointment.   I grieve those who are struggling in mind, body, and spirit.  I grieve that too often the church is seen more as the problem than any source of comfort, compassion, or care.

 

I hold all this ~ the good and bad and ugly ~ in prayer to the One who is able to accomplish far more than I could ever ask or imagine.  I hold all this in prayer to the One who doesn’t ask for me to be perfect or successful, but how our Creator continues to shed acorns of love (throw back reference to Monday’s morning meditation).  I hold all this in prayer to the One who wraps me in an embrace of grace that never lets any of us go.  May the One whose love crafts and creates all that is and calls you, “Beloved” be encountered and experienced this day.  With praise and thanksgiving to God ever living open our hearts, souls, and whole lives.  Amen.