A Concord Pastor Comments: Pause for Prayer: THANKSGIVING MORNING

Two prayers this morning, both of which I've recently posted but which may continue to be of value as we celebrate Thanksgiving 2024.

The first is my annual Prayer at an Empty Chair for those whose hearts are burdened with some measure of grief at the Thanksgiving Day table.

The second is a Grace Before Thanksgiving Day Dinner if any family or group of friends needs a little help in offer a prayer before today's feast.

Grace Before Thanksgiving Day Dinner

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation!

Through your goodness we have so much
   for which to give you thanks and praise...

Make us grateful for all you've given us;
   may our desire for having more (and more)
   not blind us to all we have...

Make us grateful for all who love us:
   may no grudge or anger keep us distant
   from family and friends,
   neighbors and colleagues...

Make us grateful for those who are with us:
   may no resentment isolate us
   from their loving embrace...

Make us grateful for the good work we've done:
   may our mistakes and failures
   not weigh us down or blind us to your mercy...

Make us grateful for the freedom we enjoy:
   may we never take it for granted...

Make us grateful for the peace we find in you:
   let no other cause or victory take its place...

Make us grateful for our dreams:
   let no disappointment keep us from hope...

Make us grateful for our faith in you:
   let no doubt cloud our trusting in your love...

Make us grateful
   for the meal we are about to share
and mindful
   of any and all who have so much less...

Nourish and strengthen us
   to change what keeps so many hungry
while others, like ourselves,
   have much more than we'll ever need...

Give us grateful hearts, O God,
to praise and thank you:
   in good times and in bad,
   in sickness and in health,
   in plenty and in want,
   in sorrow and in joy...

This is the day that you made, Lord:
   let us be glad and rejoice in it
   and give you thanks and praise!

Amen.

Prayer at an empty chair...

Prayer at an Empty Chair

This Thanksgiving, Lord,

there’ll be an empty chair at our table,
an ache in our hearts and tears on our cheeks...

We might try, we might even succeed
in shielding our grief from others
- but we cannot hide our hearts from you...

So, today we pray for (name your loved ones)
whose loving presence we miss
at this homecoming time...

Help us remember and tell again

the stories of all we shared

with the very ones we miss so much...

Open our hearts to our joyful memories
of the times and love we knew and shared
with those who've gone before us...

And with your gentle touch, Lord,
smooth and mend any ragged, broken edges
still in need of your merciful healing...

May the bonds you forged among us

grow stronger in our remembering

our loved ones now gone home to you…

Help us trust in faith

that those we miss so much
have a place now in your heart
and in heaven, a seat at your table...

Deepen and strengthen our hope
that one day we'll see them once again
and enjoy their company and love...

Teach us, Lord, to lean on those around us
for the help and support we need
when our spirits flag and fail us…

Open our hearts and souls, Lord,
to the warmth of your presence,
around us, within us, among us...

Be with us to console us and,

as you now embrace the ones we miss,
hold us, too, along with them,
in your everlasting arms...

Draw us to moments of quiet prayer,
to time to share our tears of loss

and our memories,

now the souvenirs of joyful days gone by...

In all things, Lord, help us recall
today's the day that you have made!

Help us give thanks for all your gifts

especially for all the peace we've known,

in family, friends and faith,

in those in whom we've found and known

your mercy and your love...

Amen.