A prayer for Thanksgiving

Giving thanks
As you gather together on this weekend

May joy fill your hearts this Thanksgiving
Mācītāja Ilze

Gracious Lord,

As we gather around this table
we bless you for your gifts to us:
in the love we receive and give,
in the support of family and friends,
in the unquestioning attention of animal companions,
in hope contained in new beginnings.

As we gather round this table
we are mindful of those for whom hope seems lost,
each waking day brings not hope, but despair.
We remember those in refugee camps,
those bereaved or injured in the attempt to flee to a safer place,
those who do not have what we have to experience life with dignity.

As we gather round this table
and feel the strong embrace of your presence uniting us,
let your love flow through us and inspire us
that we become your living presence to those in need.

Let our deeds be our true thanksgiving.

All this we pray, gathered around this table,
in the name of the one who draws us to himself:

the Bread of Life,
the Living Water, Jesus Christ. Amen.