Interfaith Council of Lesiure World
On behalf of the Interfaith Council of Leisure World (ICLW), the following poems and prayers are offered for reflection this Thanksgiving Day. Grateful blessings and prayers for healing and good health this holy-day season.
“We Thank Thee,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
For flowers that bloom about our feet, Father, we thank Thee. For tender grass so fresh, so sweet, Father, we thank Thee. For the song of bird and hum of bee, For all things fair we hear or see, Faher in heaven, we thank Thee. For blue of stream and blue of sky, Father, we thank Thee. For pleasant shade of branches high, Father, we thank Thee. For fragrant air and cooling breeze, For beauty of the blooming trees, Father in heaven, we thank Thee. For this new morning with its light, Father, we thank Thee. For rest and shelter of the night, Father, we thank Thee For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends, Father in heaven, we thank Thee. O Heavenly God: We thank Thee for food and remember the hungry. We thank Thee for health and remember the sick. We thank Thee for friends and remember the friendless. We thank Thee for freedom and remember the enslaved. May these remembrances stir us to service. That Thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen. ••• Enveloped in Your Light, may I be a beacon to those in search of Light.
Sheltered in Your Peace, may I offer shelter to those in need of peace.
Embraced by Your Presence, so may I be present to others.
– Rabbi Rami Shapiro
••• One more day to serve. One more hour to love. One more minute to praise. For this day I am grateful. If I awaken to the morning sun, I am grateful.
– Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB
••• Thanksgiving Prayers from the Psalms in Holy Scripture:
• Psalm 95: “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great king above all gods.”
• Psalm 103: 1-5 : “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits–who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
• Psalm 136:1-5: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. To him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. Who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. Who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.” ••• Almighty and gracious God, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name.
— A Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer
