Thanksgiving Prayers

People across the nation will gather Thursday at a Thanksgiving dinner table with big appetites and grateful hearts. But before anyone digs in, someone most likely will offer the customary blessing or prayer.

Speakers young and old will try to capture the spirit of the occasion -- a sense of thankfulness to God for good health, jobs and provisions extended to family members and friends, and for the nation's prosperity. And often the speakers' words are rooted in their religious or moral beliefs.

To learn what people in various faith traditions are planning to say at the Thanksgiving dinner table, The Bee asked several central San Joaquin Valley clergy members and lay leaders to submit their blessings or prayers.

Some responded by quoting Scripture, writings or hymns that are tenets of their beliefs. And a Quaker qualified his response, saying "blessings" are typically not spoken prayers but times of shared silence, when each person "seeks the inward presence of God."

Here are the responses.

God, our Father, we thank you for the gift of faith. Faith unravels the inscrutable paradoxes of life. The nurturing love of family and friends empowers us to love and to forgive those who wrong us. Failures are but stepping stones to success. Conflicts are bright sparks that enable us to understand those who disagree with us. Hope born of faith spurs us on to work for justice, for without it there cannot be lasting peace. Because we believe our life is a daily celebration of thanksgiving, we thank you, Lord, today and forever.
The Rev. Alex C. Ignacio, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Fresno

May we always be mindful that we are consumers of life. We exist because we utilize life to sustain our bodies and minds. Therefore, we must remember to be grateful to all life and remember that we are no more or less valuable than the food we choose to consume. There is no separating ourselves from the interconnected, interdependent flow of life we call nourishment. In Gassho.
The Rev. Jo-Ren MacDonald, Visalia Buddhist Church minister

We are thankful to God for providing us with this spirit of togetherness and wondrous meal. We are thankful to be content, safe and surrounded by loved ones. We ask God to bless those who are not as fortunate. Moreover, we pray that God gives our soldiers strength and brings them home soon. May God bless America for this day and the opportunity to express our gratitude and extend our prayers.
Harjinder Singh Dhillon, president of the Sikh Association of Fresno

O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of thy servants and reveal to them thy great purpose. May they follow thy commandments and abide in thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve thee. O God! Leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by thy love. Verily, thou art their helper and their lord.
Grace Young, a member of Fresno Baha'i Center, reciting a prayer for unity revealed by Baha'i Faith founder Baha'u'llah

Come, ye thankful people, come,

Raise the song of harvest home;

All is safely gathered in,

'Ere the winter storms begin;

Man and nature do provide

for our wants to be supplied;

Come around the table, come,

Raise the song of harvest home.

Bill Young, Humanists of the San Joaquin Valley member, reciting a modified version of the hymn "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"

I personally am thankful for those times when the human community cuts through the banalities of daily life; when we sense that we share the gift of life with all of those around us; when we literally meet God through the face of a neighbor.
David Chandler, clerk at Visalia Friends (Quakers)

O, merciful and compassionate Lord, we are grateful for the countless blessings that you shower us with. We thank you for your support and guidance in counting us among the followers of the path of the great prophets; Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. We offer thanks for the peace that we enjoy at home, and we pray to you for peace throughout the world, especially in Iraq, my birth country. O Lord, strengthen us with courage, and so too our fellow citizens, so that no one deals with others on the basis of fear. Amen.
Seyed Ali Ghazvini, imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno

Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. Then, Posthumus says: Our greatest joy should be in the destiny we can have after this life. It is my prayer and a theme we have as a family, to rejoice in the blessings of life but most importantly, the blessing of being ready for the life to come -- eternal life in Jesus Christ! The blessing of having our names recorded in heaven because Jesus Christ is our lord and savior!
The Rev. George Posthumus, pastor of Riverpark Bible Church in Fresno, quoting Jesus teaching the disciples in the Gospel of Luke 10:20

Dear Heavenly Father: At this Thanksgiving holiday, we participate in the holiness of this day. Everything has already been given us, and we are receptive to only God the Good, as we bathe in a quiet time of listening and loving. Enjoying the joy and laughter of family and friends, we know the song of continuous love and Thanksgiving and we include our community and world in this realization of affirming Peace, Oneness and Harmony to all. The Rev. Shirley Hart, minister of the Spiritual Living Center in Fresno

With its shadow and light, joy and sorrow, beauty and pain -- what a wonder life is! For that wonder inside us and all around us, we give thanks. And commit ourselves with all of our heart to show gratitude by ending our violence and living in harmony with the natural world and all humankind. So may it be. Amen. The Rev. Bryan Jessup, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno

We thank you O' gracious God for the bountiful gifts of your creation. For the blessings of the abundant fruits of the Earth, the beauty of the world, the miracle of life, the wonder of faith, the marvel of hope and the mystery of love. Help us to be faithful stewards of all you have given us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
The Rev. Michele Racusin, a Clovis resident and Episcopal priest at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco