Thanks Giving - Prayers -

I adore Thanksgiving. And I love spending my Thanksgiving with the people I adore. I cannot think of a holiday that brings me closer to my softer side than this one. Sometimes I need to be forcefully stopped in order to really think about more than just the moment (I've become quite good at staying in the moment - not nearly so overwhelming). So when I have cause to pause, for four days, I can't help but think about the goodness that is inside me and surrounds me.

There are three Thanksgiving songs and prayers that come to mind that say what I think and feel better than with my own words:

"There is a time for every season and every purpose under heaven. A time for family and friends, a time for happy memories and thankful hearts, time for traditions and blessings shared. Thank you for the many reasons I have to give thanks." (Psalms +)

"For health and strength and daily food we praise thy name, O Lord."

1. Come, ye thankful people, come;
   Raise the song of harvest home.
   All is safely gathered in
   Ere the winter storms begin.
   God, our Maker, doth provide
   For our wants to be supplied.
   Come to God's own temple, come;
   Raise the song of harvest home.

I am smitten by the fact that we have a national holiday to give thanks. Whether we have similar Higher Powers or not, stopping to acknowledge the goodness in our lives is good. Rather than finding fault and looking at the terrors and deprivation around us, we must be grateful, otherwise we live in a victim mode, and I refuse to be a victim. I am too blessed to be depressed. May you find moments over these next few days to give thanks. 


“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it's wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.”