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| Image: Cynthia Pinckney Ministries |
For many reasons, the holidays are a difficult time for many people.
For those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, Thanksgiving and Christmas (especially the "first" of each) can be particularly hard to experience. Nothing can make these moments easy but prayer can offer a path to walk through these days with greater peace and even opportunities for healing.
I'm posting this prayer a week before Thanksgiving because it might help to sit with it for a while, to pray it over several days.
Some might find it helpful to use a prayer like this as the blessing before Thanksgiving Day dinner. Others might find it helpful to pray it alone, or to share copies of it with other family members and friends.
The Lord was a man well acquainted with grief: no stranger was he to a broken heart. He is with us in our pain as surely as he is with those whom he has welcomed to his arms of peace.
In those same everlasting arms he gathers us this Thanksgiving...
Dear God,
There is an empty chair at our table,
an ache in our hearts
and tears on our faces.
We may try to shield one another
from the grief we bear
but we cannot hide it from you.
We pray for (names)
whose presence we miss
in these homecoming days.
Open our eyes and our hearts
to the healing and warmth
of the light of your presence.
Assure us, Lord, that those we miss
have a place at your table
and a home in your heart
as well as in ours.
Open our hearts to joyful memories
of the love we shared
with those who have gone before us.
Help us tell the stories
that make the past present
and bring us close to those we miss.
Teach us to lean on each other
and on you, Lord,
for the strength we need
to walk through difficult times.
Give us quiet moments
with you, with our thoughts,
with our memories and prayers.
Be with us, Lord,
and hold us in your arms
even as you hold those whom we miss.
This is the day you have made, Lord:
help us to rejoice in it
and in the promise of your peace.
Amen.
(Links to prayers and reflections for the month of November)
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Thanksgiving201
Thank you for this beautiful prayer. I have said it for myself more than once. It struck me yesterday that not only do we have those who are missing because of death. In our group we had two divorced mothers who were without their children, because the children were with their fathers' families for Thanksgiving. For one it was the first year. That must be very difficult.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first year in my life that I was actually not invited anywhere for Thanksgiving. I am a single person and feel very sad about this fact. A friend who called on Saturday, post-holiday, asked how my day had been and I was reluctant to let them know I had been by myself. I am certain people assumed I had somewhere to go. I do volunteer work weekly and did not feel drawn to the community center/foodbank on the holiday itself. Life can be pretty lonely.
ReplyDeleteI am just reading through comments from older posts. I empathize with your story of this Thanksgiving. Many years ago I was brand new to Boston. I knew very few people and was not invited to spend Thanksgiving with anyone. I ate by myself at the Howard Johnson's in Back Bay. It was not fun. In fact, it was pretty awful. I hope next year you will reach out to someone. It is always more enjoyable to spend a holiday with others, and I think most people are happy to broaden their circle to include others.
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