WATCHWORD:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
“But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” Jonah 2:9
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” Psalm 28:7
Meditation:
Borrowed Thoughts on Thankfulness
Invocation by A. W. Tozer —
Arise, O Lord into Your proper place of honor, above our ambitions, above our likes and dislikes, above even the family, and our health, even above our lives. Let us decrease that You may increase, let us sink that You may rise above. Ride forth upon us as You did ride into Jerusalem mounted on a humble donkey and let us hear the little children cry to You, “Hosanna in the highest”. Amen.
— From The Pursuit of God
A Word from Thomas Merton —
Gratitude is more than a mental exercise, more than a formula of words. We cannot be satisfied to make a mental note of things which God has done for us and then perfunctorily thank Him for favors received. To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us—and He has given us everything! Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a gift of grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.
— From Thoughts in Solitude
An Observation by W. Paul Jones —
Perhaps a significance of this Thanksgiving Day (for me) is I completed my read of the whole Bible. It has been a significant experience for which the final book of Revelation is a soaring crescendo that only Handel has come close to a fitting response. It is not to be analyzed and understood but choreographed and read poetically to music. The vision of the final consummation of creation, hinted at as possibility when first the spirit brooded over the primal waters; history became the plane of creativity, as God so shaped the work of His hands that the characters themselves came alive, resisting the playwright, inducing God no longer to be the sabbatical enjoyer but the tragic incarnate craftsman as together the dream is lost and found and reconstituted. The final amen is given with fragile hope and unbreakable love.
— From The Province Beyond the River
No Regrets This Day …
If I had only…
Forgotten future greatness
And looked at the green of things and the buildings
And reached out to those around me
And smelled the air
And ignored the forms and the self-styled obligations
And heard the rain on the roof
And put my arms around my girl
… and it’s not too late.
– From Notes to Myself by Hugh Prather.
A Tribute to the Empty Chair at the Table:
The boy that I am writing about here… left me when he was only 11 years old… the birth of the son in mid-winter of 1892 was one of the supreme events of my life. He was named Lowell after my beloved poet. I took him from the doctor and felt an utterable emotion of joy and wonder… I never got away from this divine miracle. There was light on this child’s face which I did not put there. There were marks of heavenly origin to plain to miss. Poets admit that they spoil it all by predicting that the glory will quickly fade into the light of common day. It was not so with this child. This child looking at a beautiful object was told that it would soon be gone. Never mind, he replied, there will be something else beautiful tomorrow. The light kept growing plainer and more real through the 11 years he lived here on earth with me. It never became common day.
— From The Luminous Trail by Rufus M. Jones
Thanksgiving Hymn and Prayer:
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.
All the blessings of the field,
All the stores the gardens yield;
All the fruits in full supply,
Ripened ‘neath the summer sky;
All that spring with bounteous hand
Scatters o’er the smiling land;
All that liberal autumn pours
From her rich o’er flowing stores:
These to thee, our God, we owe,
Source whence all our blessings flow;
And for these our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise.
Come, then, thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home;
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home. Amen.
Thanksgiving Dinner Grace:
We thank you God, for Food in a world where many walk in hunger.
For Faith in a world where many walk in fear.
For Friends and Family in a world where many walk alone.
We give you thanks. Amen.
