An Attitude of Gratitude . . .

 

Litany of Gratitude

For being in our world. For making a difference. For your wisdom. 

Thank you.

For being so thoughtful. For being there. For caring. Thank you.

For sharing your thoughts. For listening. For your inspiration. Thank you.

For your faith. For your talent. For your wonderful work.  Thank you.

For your leadership. For your character. For your spirit.  Thank you.

For your principles. For showing the way. For your warmth.  Thank you.

For your kindness.  For your encouragement. For your honesty.  

Thank you.

For your helping hand.  For reaching out. For your touch.  Thank you.

For your support. For hanging in there. For staying in touch. Thank you.

For giving. For your example. For spreading joy. For your big heart. 

Thank you.

For all you’ve done. For the memories. For being you.  

Thank you.                                                      

 (Adapted from Gratitude compiled by Dan Zadra)

In Praise of Autumn Beauty . . .

 

O God of Autumn loveliness, we thank you for the many colors of our lives. We thank you 

for the rich hues of red, the promising hope of greens, the depth of the golds, and the well-worn browns.

We praise you for all of the life you have given us, the life we celebrate at this harvest time 

each year. Like the leaves of the trees, we ourselves have been blown around, toasted in the sun, and whipped by rain and storms. Yet, we stand as a testament to life well lived.

Your trees, O God, remind us of our letting go, our need to trust transformation, so that new

life can come. Yet, like them, we resist the tearing, wrenching, pulling, and tugging.  We cling earnestly to our color and our home!

Release us, God of the Autumn, and free us so that the wind of your Spirit can fling us to the 

places we most need to go.  Bury us deep in places where we will find warmth.  Help us to find ourselves grounded in you.

As we look around in this harvest time, we celebrate the bounty all around us and deep 

within us.  May we be forever grateful for the plentitude!  May we be forever generous with all that is ours.  May we be forever willing to give of ourselves!

And as we journey towards this winter time, help us to always carry the spirit of springtime 

deep within us as a sign of hope! 

We believe, O God of Transformation, that all of life is your belief and hope in us!  Ready our

hearts, steady our hearts that we can respond fully in faith and love!

(Author Unknown)

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A time to choose to change . . .

 

 

Blessing

What we choose changes us.
Who we love transforms us.
How we create remakes us.
Where we live reshapes us.

So in all our choosing,
O God, make us wise;
in all our loving,
O Christ, make us bold;
in all our creating,
O Spirit, give us courage;
in all our living
may we become whole.

 

Author: Jan Richardson

 

Veterans Day

 Barack Obama

"Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay. 

But we can honor their sacrifice, and we must.”

God of all seasons . . .

 

 

O God of all seasons and senses, grant us the sense of your timing             
to submit gracefully and rejoice quietly in the turn of the seasons.

In this season of short days and long nights,
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of endings;
children growing, friends leaving, loved ones dying,
grieving over,
grudges over,
blaming over,
excuses over.

O God, grant us a sense of your timing.
In this season of short days and long nights,
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of beginnings;
that such waitings and endings may be the starting place,
a planting of seeds which bring to birth what is ready to be born—
something right and just and different,
a new song, a deeper relationship, a fuller love—
in the fullness of your time.

O God, grant us the sense of your timing.

Taken from Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder