Giving thanks for Twenty-Twenty-One (in video form)... Happy Thanksgiving!!
"Gratefulness grounds our lives in the world and with
others, always reminding us of the gifts and grace that accompany our way no
matter how hard the journey. Gratitude is an emotion. Gratitude is a practice,
a disposition, an awareness, a set of habits. But ultimately, gratitude is a
place – perhaps the place – where we find our truest and best
selves.
To know the mystery of life is to be grateful in all
things. In.
In all
things. With all things, through all things.
Sometimes the world turns on a preposition. To be
grateful in these days is an act of resistance, of resilience,
of renewal….We may be worried about what lies ahead. We are NOT thankful for any
of this. But the mystery of it all is that we can still be grateful as we make
our way through it all.
Give thanks."
A Thanksgiving Prayer:
GOD, there are days we do not feel grateful.
When we are anxious or angry. When we feel alone. When we do not understand
what is happening in the world or with our neighbors. When the news is bleak,
confusing. God, we struggle to feel grateful.
But this Thanksgiving, we choose gratitude.
We choose to accept life as a gift from you, and as a
gift from the unfolding work of all creation.
We choose to be grateful for the earth from which our
food comes; for the water that gives life; and for the air we all breathe.
We choose to thank our ancestors, those who came
before us, grateful for their stories and struggles, and we receive their
wisdom as a continuing gift for today.
We choose to see our families and friends with new
eyes, appreciating and accepting them for who they are. We are thankful for our
homes, whether humble or grand.
We will be grateful for our neighbors, no matter how
they voted, whatever our differences, or how much we feel hurt or misunderstood
by them.
We choose to see the whole planet as our shared
commons, the stage of the future of humankind and creation.
God, this Thanksgiving, we do not give thanks. We
choose it. We will make this choice of thanks with courageous hearts, knowing
that it is humbling to say “thank you.” We choose to see your sacred
generosity, aware that we live in an infinite circle of gratitude. That we all
are guests at a hospitable table around which gifts are passed and received. We
will not let anything opposed to love take over this table. Instead, we choose
grace, free and unmerited love, the giftedness of life everywhere. In this
choosing, and in the making, we will pass gratitude onto the world.
Thus, with you, and with all those gathered at this
table, we pledge to make thanks. We ask you to strengthen us in this resolve.
Here, now, and into the future. Around our family table. Around the table of
our nation. Around the table of the earth.
We choose thanks.
Amen.
- Diana Butler Bass
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