May We Remember This

Thanksgiving Prayer

We come to this table today, 

O Lord, humble and thankful and glad.

We thank Thee first for the great miracle of life, 

for the exaltation of being human, 

for the capacity to love.

We thank Thee for joys both great and simple-

For wonder,dreams and hope;

For the newness of each day;

For laughter and song and a merry heart;

For compassion waiting within to be kindled;

For the forbearance of friends and the smile of a stranger;

For the arching of the earth and trees and heavens and the fruit of all three;

For the wisdom of the old;

For the courage of the young;

For the promise of the child;

For the strength that comes when needed;

For this family united here today.

Of those to whom much is given, much is required.  

May we and our children remember this.

Amen.


My mother shared this Thanksgiving prayer with us many years ago and I've read it at the table ever since, always choking on the second to the last line. Of those to whom much is given, much is required; 


This describes my mother in a nutshell. It was her mantra.


The last Thanksgiving my family was together, with both my mother and father, (who had divorced in my teen years), was ten years ago. Mom died three weeks later. 


Holidays are bittersweet; we miss loved ones who are no longer with us, Mom. Aunt Nip. David Ross. Uncle Ken. Cousin Derek. Meri. Scar. Nell. Aunt Dois. Rip. Pamela...so many more. 


For some, it's difficult to be with the ones who are still here. Open your heart to those people especially...


I wrote yesterday, judge nothing. Try it for a minute at a time.


Give thanks for all of it. 


Be glad for the newness of today.


xo b