PRAYERS for Thanksgiving
Below is a collection of resources for use during the Thanksgiving season.
- "THANKSGIVING" meditation and prayer by Rev. George Kimmich Beach, from "For Love's Sake Alone" published by the UUCF, 1995:
Walking on a late autumn afternoon, the burnished leaves glow with the waning sunlight. We awaken to the surrounding beauty, and reflect on its steady passing. Our eyes tear in the cold air, and behold all, with thanks.
Sharing dinner with old friends, after weeks or months or even years have passed, we catch up with each other, telling tales of children, and travels, and the trials of growing older. Heart answers to heart, with thanks.
Singing a song not sung for many years, feeling our vocal cords hum and resonate with other voices, we relive joyful days, revisit familiar places. Being carried back we are carried foreward in time. Memory floods our minds, with thanks.
Coming together, young and old, holidays become holy-days of the heart, and we pause, in a moment, in wonder, to be witness to the procession of generations. Being here now, we rejoice. Hands reach out, surprised at such warmth, with thanks.
God who gives us vision, we give thee thanks for the grandeur of beauty that surrounds us. Who warms our hearts to friendship, we give thee thanks for the warmth of love that surrounds us. Who answers our longing in old songs rising up within us, we give thanks for the wealth of memories that surround us. Who joins us in spirit, in body, in joy, in pain, in all things that cut to the soul's quick, we thank thee with deepest thanks-giving. Amen.
- TABLE GRACES from the book Graces, Sung and Spoken, ed. by the Rev. Carl Scovel, minister emeritus of Kings Chapel in Boston, published through the UUCF by the Massachusetts Evangelical and Missionary Society, 1963 (hence non-inclusive language).
It will come in two parts. Said by One; Said Together.
Graces Said by One
Let us in peace eat the food
that God has provided for us.
Praise be to God for all his gifts. Amen.
from the Armenian Apostolic Church of Lebanon
Father, who feeds the small sparrows,
give us our bread
and feed all our brothers. Amen.
From France
Be Thou our guest, Almighty Lord,
And bless the bounty of this board
That we may be restored. Amen.
From Germany
Blessed are Thou, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
Who bringest forth bread from the earth.
Amen.
From the Jewish Tradition
This is the day which the Lord hath made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm CXVIII:24
For all good gifts we thank Thee,
Lord, the Giver. Amen.
Grant us grateful hearts, our Father,
for all Thy mercies and make us
ever mindful of the needs of others,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer
O give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good; for his mercy
endureth for ever.
Psalm CVII:1
We give Thee thanks, Almighty God,
for these and all Thy gifts, which
we have received from Thy bounty,
Thou who art Lord God for ever
and ever. Amen.
A medieval grace from the refectory of Christ College, Oxford
In Latin, it reads:
Gratias tibi agimus, Deus
Omnipotens, pro his ac universis
donis Tuis, quae de Tua
largitate accepimus,
Qui es Dominus Deus
in Saecula Saeculorum.
Almighty God, for all Thy gifts
of nature, love and grace,
we offer humble thanks and
hearty praises, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
We give thanks for Being,
We give thanks for being here
We give thanks for being here together.
The Rev. Joseph Barth, D.D., King's Chapel, Boston
Lord, help us to receive all good
things from thy hand and use them to Thy praise. Amen.
From Western College, Oxford, Ohio
For food and friends and family
May we always thankful be.
from Arlington, Virginia
Bless, O Lord, this food to our use
and our lives in Thy service. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, alt.
For good food to eat
and a challenge to meet,
For this life to live
and for love to give,
For friends to deserve
and a cause to serve,
We thank Thee, O our God.
The Rev. Donald Harrington, The Community Church, New York City
Graces Said Together
God is great, and God is good.
Let us thank Him for this food.
source unknown
Back of the loaf is the snowy flour,
Back of the flour is the mill;
Back of the mill is the wheat and the shower,
And the sun and the Father's will. Amen.
source unknown
Each time we eat
May we remember God's love. Amen.
from China
God, we thank you for this food,
For rest and home and all things good;
For wind and rain and sun above,
But most of all for those we love. Amen.
Maryleona Frost
For this new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends:
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Some have meat and cannot eat,
And some would eat that lack it.
But we have meat and we can eat,
And so the Lord be thank-ed.
The Selkirk Grace, from Robert Burns
For every cup and plateful,
Lord, make us truly grateful. Amen.
A.S.T. Fisher
Father: The Lord is good to all:
Family:And his mercies are over all his works.
Father: The eyes of all wait upon thee;
Family: And Thou givest them their met in due season.
Father: Thou openest thine hand,
Family: And satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
Father: The Lord is righteous in all his ways.
Family: And holy in all his works.
Father: The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him,
Family: To all that call upon Him in truth.
Psalm CXLV: 9, 15-18
(this may be followed by a prayer spoken by the Father)
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord,
all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness,
come before his presence with singing.
Know ye, that the Lord, He is God:
it is He that hath made us, and
not we ourselves; we are his people
and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates
with thanksgiving and into his
courts with praise: be thankful
unto Him and bless his name.
For the Lord is good:
His mercy is everlasting;
and His truth endureth
to all generations.
Psalm C
Thank you, God, for this food,
and help us to preserve our freedom,
that we may eat in peace. Amen.
source unknown
Thank you, God, for milk and bread
And other things so good;
Thank you, God, for those who help
To grow and cook our food.
Elizabeth McE. Shields
- "There Are Four Things To Remember About Saying Grace" From Rev. Scovel
a.
Begin. The only way to begin is to begin. You may feel a little embarrassed and self-conscious at first. This is only natural and happens when you begin any new thing. But these feelings will pass away, as you begin to enjoy singing and speaking your thanks.
b. Be regular. Even if you say grace only at the one meal when you are all together, try to establish a pattern, and stick to it.
c.
Persist. There will be "dry spells". There will be days when you may speak the words without much feeling of gratitude or joy. It may help to try a new grace at this time, but do persist! Don't drop the custom itself. God's goodness to us does not depend on how we feel. Neither do our thanks depend on how we feel.
d.
Pray as you please. Praise God in the way that best fits you. If your family is musical, sing from your own church hymnal as well...Try a chorale or a canon.
If your family specializes in monotones, speak your graces together, and you may still enjoy the sound of united voices. If you like, join hands around the table and stand in the silence of the Quaker grace. The silence ends, when the head of the household starts a handsqueeze around the table, or when he says Amen. Of course, you may join hands as you sing or as one of you prays. Do give the children a chance to lead in prayer. The home is the place where honest piety is taught, and only here can the children learn.
On special holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, you might hold a special celebration. One of the children might read something from Scripture. Then, you might sing a hymn and say grace. If you're hungry and dinner is late, make the grace short. If you feel so moved, speak your thanks in your own words. The best grace is spoken from the heart without a thought about effect or eloquence.
Only in everything you do, be instructed by the freedom of our fellowship. Those who love God need no rules. Only enjoy the variety and richness of His praise. Only give thanks--and be grateful.
-
"The Year Thanksgiving Came Early ", an excerpt from the essay by the Rev. Carl Scovel, originally published in McCalls, 1967, reprinted in the UUCF book "An Easter Faith: The Writings of Carl Scovel".
This essay grows out of the experience of Carl Scovel and his family interned in a concentration camp in Japanese-controlled China after the outbreak of World War Two. It focuses on the deprivations of food and other items during their captivity, and on the end of their time there and subsequent freedom after having to wait aboard a Japanese ship, waiting for a Swedish ship the Gripsholm.
"Our diet consisted of bread, a thin vegetable stew and occasionally a scrap of meat. Food became an obsession with us. No matter how a conversation began, it always ended with food. We talked of food, we dreamed of food, we sang of food, we stole food. I can remember trying to remember what chicken tasted like. I never could. We were living on about fifteen hundred calories a day--enough to keep us going but not enough to ease the constant hollowness in our stomachs...
"We docked, and one day, two, then three went by, and still no Gripsholm. The rumors buzzed among the passengers: The Gripsholm had been sunk; the Japanese had called off the exchange; Sweden had entered the war. These rumors sound ridiculous now, but people who have been living on the edge of despair will believe anything that might explain their plight.
"I awoke early on the fourth day, September 30, and when I went on deck, I saw a crowd at the ship's railing. I ran over, and there on the horizon was a white ship, gleaming in the morning sun. It was the Gripsholm...When our family went aboard the Gripsholm, a man from the Red Cross handed each of us a chocolate bar. Almost automatically we handed our chocolate bars to my father. He then took one bar and divided it among us. We were accustomed to saving something for the next day...
"Then suddenly I saw a waiter. I will never forget him. He had blue eyes and a trim brown mustache. He wore a white jacket with brass buttons; his dark-blue trousers were neatly creased; his black shoes were shined. He walked erect, proudly, and he was holding (imagine this) a platter of sliced turkey. We stood, we stared, we gaped at this man as he placed the platter on a table spread with a white linen cloth. Can you understand our shock? Can you imagine these ragged, thin refugees, used to a plate of wormy rice or a bowl of thin soup for lunch, staring at this solitary platter of turkey and crying because they knew it was real? Everyone was crying--fathers, mothers, ambassadors, lawyers, gray-haired missionaries, towheaded children and even a couple of criminals who were being extradited to America.
"But now shouts of "Hurrah!" began to accompany the tears as other stewards filed through the crowd. They carried whole hams and turkeys, cheeses, fruit salads and vegetable salads, mounds of Swedish rolls and bowls heaped high with pats of butter, pitchers of milk and coffee and fruit juice. We stood on the deck chairs and hatches and lifeboats and the deck, weeping and cheering as each beaming waiter appeared onstage with his special contribution. Yet, when the table was completely set, no one lunged forward. For a moment we paused and looked at the masterpiece of a well-spread board. Someone in the back began to sing, "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow" and we all joined in, and when we'd sung our thanks, we crowded around the tables.
"Our biggest problem is that we couldn't eat very much. I remember that I actually ate nothing. I went from table to table, pouring myself a glass of tomato juice at each one and downing the drink in a single gulp. I must have drunk a dozen glasses of tomato juice that noon, and that's all I had for dinner. But that was enough. That was my Thanksgiving, and I've never had another one like it. It was a moment of sheer grace; it was a moment of absolute joy.
"Someday, when my children are old enough to understand, I will tell them the story of this Thanksgiving. They may be stuffed with turkey and all the trimmings, but I think they will get the point. It wasn't just food that we gave thanks for when we cried and cheered and sang on the deck of the Gripsholm. We gave thanks because we had become human beings again."
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