A Thanksgiving Prayer

I saw the prayer below in a New Skete News email, and thought it worth sharing with those looking for a prayer of thanksgiving:

O generous Lord be mindful of our loved ones and all who are away from home; and for members of the military, for aid workers, and peace-keepers: for those who will travel this week, that God will guide their travels, preserve them from harm and lead them home safely. Gracious God, for the preoccupations that burden our minds and for all that we keep in our hearts, accept our thanksgiving on this day. Keep us ever mindful of those who lack the necessities of life and make us generous in sharing all that we have. Grant us rest and relaxation of this moment spent with family and friends. Bless the food, friendship, and hospitality we will share and fill our hearts with gratitude and love through Jesus Christ our Lord… Amen

[from an Ecumenical Vespers of Thanksgiving celebrated yearly in the village of Cambridge, NY]

Thanksgiving (2016)

“St. John of Kronstadt says, ‘Prayer is a state of continual gratitude.’ If I do not feel a sense of joy in God’s creation, if I forget to offer the world back to God with thankfulness, I have advanced very little upon the Way. I have not yet learnt to be truly human. For it is only through thanksgiving that I can become myself. Joyful thanksgiving, so far from being escapist or sentimental, is on the contrary entirely realistic – but with the realism of one who sees the world in God, as the divine creation.” (Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way, p 55)