Previous Reflections
REFLECTIONS
November 21, 2010
Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
Psalms 147:1
Thanksgiving Prayer
Loving God, we pause this day to praise you and to give thanks for our many blessings. Too often we allow them to be overshadowed amidst the troubles we face in this world. Too often our attention is drawn to our own pain or to selfish desires. But we come to you today in humble thanksgiving for the blessings you have given.
We thank you for life itself. You have blessed us with our being, you have given us people to love and people who love us, and most of all you have showered us with the blessing of your love.
We thank you for all that is yet to come. Even with the hardships and pain we may face, you bless us by using our lives as examples for the loved ones that surround us. And you bless us with the strength you provide to endure those difficult days.
Gracious God, we thank you for our world—for color and shapes that paint the beauty of the earth that our eyes behold, for sounds that broadcast the music of life to our ears, and for the fragrances that brings hunger for life to our souls.
We are blessed to live in this country, by the prosperity we enjoy, and by the security we so often take for granted. We thank you for the communities we live in, the friends we enjoy, and for all of those who sacrificed their lives that we may live in freedom. We give you thanks for the security offered by police forces and firefighters; and for those who care for our health. We are grateful for their ever growing abilities to treat traumas and diseases that once shortened human life spans.
Memories that remind us of yesterday are blessings of today. Memories of good times bless us with smiles. Memories of trying times bless us by helping us grow. We have been blessed by all that has gone before us; and we will be blessed by whatever may lie ahead. But most of all we are blessed by today.
Today we praise you our gracious and loving God; and we offer this prayer of thanksgiving in the name of your Son and our Savior, Jesus the Christ. He is the greatest blessing of them all. By the sacrifice of his body and blood all of our wrongs have been made right. And we have been blessed with life everlasting.
All praise to you, our Loving God.
Amen.
“You are the light of the world.”
RichardÌ
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