Perhaps you are like me in sometimes finding it hard to ‘give thanks’ in a time when so many live in fear and uncertainty in this current political nightmare in which we find ourselves. I’m afraid it will only get worse in the next couple of years. Frustration, despair, and anger are often the themes of our days.
But when all is said and done, as Christians, we still have good cause to be grateful (people of other faiths can adapt this in the context of their traditions). We are grateful to God for life itself and that we have been called to bear witness to an alternate way of living by modeling God’s open and embracive community: God’s beloved family where there is no ‘other’.
At this Thanksgiving season we have a special opportunity, as we gather with family and friends, to use prayers and table graces which reflect not only our gratitude but which also serve as useful markers pointing the way to a more just and humane world.
The following table graces are from a publication from the Iona Community: Blessed be our Table, edited by Neil Paynter (Wild Goose Publications, Glasgow. 2007). They reflect not only the bounty of the harvest but recognize the many hands that helped bring it to our tables as well as the need to be sure that the bounty is shared by all.
The hand that made the hands
For the hands that tilled,
for the hands that harvested,
for the hands that processed,
for the hands that transported,
for the hands that stocked,
for the hands that sold,
for the hands that bought,
for the hands that prepared,
for the hands that will hold,
for the hands that made the hands,
Our hearts are forever grateful.
(Ewan Aitken)
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.
(Linda Jones)
God of the seed-time
God of the seed-time and the harvest,
the making and the baking
the breaking and the sharing
may food, friendship and thankfulness
nourish our compassion
and give energy to our protest
so that time will come
when all share in the feasting
and the fun.
(Joy Mead)
Blessings to each as you break bread this Thanksgiving with those around your table. Be grateful for God’s good gifts. Be nourished in body and spirit and thus enabled for the ministries of justice and hope to which we are called.