A Thanksgiving Prayer

 

A General Thanksgiving, from The Book of Common Prayer

Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,
revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and
our friends,
We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering
and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and
promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the
Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Light that never fades

 

O Light that never fades, as the light of day now streams through these windows and floods this room, so let me open to Thee the windows of my heart, that all my life may be filled by the radiance of Thy presence. Let no corner of my being be unillumined by the light of Thy countenance. Let there be nothing within me to darken the brightness of the day. Let the Spirit of Him whose life was the light of all rule within my heart till eventide. Amen.

(John Baillie)

Truth shared

Sy Safransky is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sun, which publishes essays, stories, poems, etc., by current writers. The October, 2024 issue carries an essay he wrote in 1986, “Enemies of Freedom.” In it, Safransky recalls an incident from years earlier when the “liberal arts college dedicated to the habits of freedom” he attended banned a Communist from speaking on campus. Here us a paragraph in which he reflects not he meaning of freedom. I especially like the John Adams quote with which he concludes.

“I began to consider more keenly the perils of limiting dissent in a democracy, of skimping on freedom as if there where only so much to go around. The real patriots, it seemed to me, weren’t those who insisted that truth, their truth, had to be defended at any cost—or who suggested, with a wink at history, that our rights would best be protected by stripping us of a few. Democracy asks for a sturdier faith, asks us to trust that in the free discussion of ideas, truth will more often than not win out. What a dangerous notion, to those who pride above all else security and a predictable tomorrow. It is, after all, as risky as love! Yet, miraculously, among people of different backgrounds and temperaments, different races and religions—people as different as you and I—the spirit of truth somehow prevails. Not my truth or your truth, but something shared, an understanding among equals, at once mystical and practical, that allows us to live together. Like a friendship or a marriage, democracy depends on communication and trust; yes, we know the risks. ‘Virtue,’ as John Adams observed, ‘is not always amiable.’ If we’re free to love, we’re free to hate—free to be Communists and Nazis and Democrats and Republicans and every kind of fool. Adams also wisely advised, ‘There’s a danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with the power to endanger the public liberty.’”

In the evening we shall be examined on love, by Thomas Centolella

In the evening, we shall be examined on love.

And it won’t be multiple choice,

though some of us would prefer it that way.

Neither will be it be essay, which tempts us to run on

when we should be sticking to the point, if not together.

In the evening there will be implications

our fear will turn to complications. No cheating,

we’ll be told, and we’ll try to figure the cost of being true

to ourselves. In the evening, when the sky has turned

that certain blue, blue of exam books, blue of no more

daily evasions, we shall climb the hill as the light empties

and park our tired bodies on a bench above the city

and try to fill in the blanks. And we won’t be tested

like defendants on trial, cross-examined

till one of us breaks down, guilty as charged. No,

in the evening, after the day has refused to testify,

we shall be examined on Love, like students

who don’t recall signing up for the course

and now must take their orals, forced to speak for once

from the heart and not off the top of their heads.

And when the evening is over and it’s late,

the student body asleep, even the great teachers

retired for the night, we shall stay up

and run back over the questions, each in our own way:

what’s true, what’s false, what unknown quantity

will balance the equation, what it would mean many years from now

to look back and know

We did not fail.

The title/first line of this poem by American poet Thomas Centolella is a quote from late-16th-century mystic John of the Cross. It speaks to me today.

In the need of prayer...

I am grateful for all the day-after-the-election postings by Facebook friends offering hope and encouragement. I am striving to remember our Christian faith that, when all is complete, joy will transcend anger, love will overcome fear, community will replace division, and life will defeat death. I’ve preached those things, and I trust them.

But I also fear that we who do believe such positive things are entering a period of protracted struggle against the inhumane “principalities and powers of this present age.” I hope I am up to the challenges of our times.

Meantime, Thursday I will have surgery to remove what is, I hope, a benign mass on my left parotid (salivary) gland. It unsettles me to think about the surgeon making an incision just in front of my left ear lobe down to my neck, but that is what must happen to take care of this thing.

I will be asleep, of course. I trust I will wake up from my surgery, ready to do what I can do to heal.

We who are disappointed in how many of our fellow Americans voted yesterday may need to rest up to prepare for what’s ahead. To let others care for us the way our posts are caring for one another, so we can be strengthened to do whatever we can do to get us well.

I hope and pray our nation will wake up to the power of compassion and justice, and exercise them toward full health. And, I ask you to direct your good thoughts and/or prayers my way tomorrow as well. Thanks.

Competing yard signs; competing visions for our future

 

There’s a yard sign nearby that reads, “Trump…the Revenge Tour.” It suggests that a second Trump administration would be about visiting revenge on his enemies, real or imagined.

Lest we think that sign sounds more extreme that it really means, consider that last week Mr. Trump suggested that Liz Cheney belongs in front of a firing squad. His increasingly spiteful rhetoric tells us what would be on his mind if he moves back into the Oval Office.

Kamala Harris’s rhetoric makes it clear that governing our nation will be on her mind as our president. Many do not like her or her specific policies, but no one cannot deny the fact that she has never made so direct an attack on the very foundations of our republic as Mr. Trump and his allies are making over and over again.

Another nearby yard sign reads, “Harris for President…obviously.” The choice tomorrow is obvious to all who hold our country and its future dear.