A prayer of Thanksgiving

Today, O LORD, we express our Thanksgiving. We begin with the simple things of our days: Fresh air to breathe, cool water to drink, The taste of food, the comforts of home. For all these we make an act of Thanksgiving this day! We recall the warmth of humankind that we have known: The caring of parents, the encouragement of friends; Even the tears we have shed and seen; The tightening of the grip in a simple handshake when we Feared the road before us in darkness; The whisper in the heart when temptation was fiercest The crucial word said, the simple sentence from an open Page when a decision hung in the balance. Without You, O Lord, life would have no meaning; The pilgrims saw this truth and set their sails for a new world. For all this we make an act of Thanksgiving this day. Our Father--in humbleness of mind, simplicity of heart, And in our Savior’s Name--we pray, Amen. (Howard Thurman)