As we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving, a prayer for the feast, for the gathering, for life itself, undergirded by God’s mercy and grace, is certainly appropriate … yea even required! Here are some prayers, gleaned from several sources, that might be helpful.
Harvest Prayer
Loving Creator God,
at harvest time we gaze in wonder
at the splendor of your creation.
We see a banquet spread before us,
rich carpeted fields of yellow grain
and overflowing baskets of ripe fruit.
We see a banquet prepared for all peoples
of fine wine and rich food
a generous feast for all to share.
Help us to learn from your generosity
how to share our bread with the hungry
and open our hearts to the poor,
to commit ourselves to preparing
a banquet for all peoples
a generous feast for all to share. Amen.
-Linda Jones
The Earth and All It’s Fullness
God, teach us that the earth and all of its fullness is yours,
the world and those who dwell in it.
Remind us that your Son too
enjoyed the fruits of the harvest in Galilee.
And join us now as we celebrate your good gifts together.
Call us yet again to safeguard the gift of life,
now and for ever.
Amen.
-Christian Ecology Link
A Grace for Eating Alone
Blessed be the silence of this meal
Blessed be the solitude of this eating
Blessed be the company of unseen presences
Blessed be my single table
-Nicole Slee
These three prayers are from Blessed Be Our Table: Graces for Mealtimes and Reflections on Food, edited by Neil Paynter. Wild Goose Publications, 2003, the publishing arm of the Iona Community.
A Prayer for Thanksgiving Day
Almighty God, we praise your name and glorify you, remembering your promise that while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest shall not fail. We bless you for the supports of this life, for the kindly fruits of the earth, for the food we too often receive without thanks and eat without remembering you. May gratitude be restored in us, we pray, and all our uses of this world’s bounty be touched with thanksgiving. Then we will know that what we have is not ours alone, but ours to share as it is ours to use. Amen.
-Prayers for Worship Leaders, by Arnold Kenseth and Richard Unsworth. Fortress Press.
A Prayer from South America
(“…food links us substantially with the whole of creation. And at mealtime we become conscious of those who have less or nothing. Hence this prayer from the churches in South America…”)
To those who have hunger, give bread; and to us who have bread, give the hunger for justice.
-Energy for Life: Reflection on the Theme ‘Come Holy Spirit – Renew the Whole Creation,’ by Krister Stendahl. WCC Publications, Geneva, 1990.