Thanksgiving is an exercise in sanity. It stabs at our overweening sense of sufficiency and control, and thereby connects us to reality. When I engage in thanksgiving I am forced to acknowledge that much of what I have has come to me through forces and circumstances beyond my control. Yes, I do work. I work on my job, I work on my relationships, and I work on my development as a human being, but I know that I have received good and blessing beyond the fruit of my work. Moreover, I have come to see that the deepest levels of my being are not directly subject to my will, and thus the desire work and do good is something that is also given to me. Thanksgiving is an exercise in reality because it acknowledges the deeply gifted nature of our existence; it is an exercise in reality because on some level it acknowledges the giver of all good gifts.

For those who are giving thanks today, I would like to share with you the following communal prayer from the Book of Common Prayer.

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Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,
We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord; To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Spiritual Growth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.