To Be Christian, To Give Thanks
My Dear People,
Before his feet touch the floor each morning, he says, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
He has had this practice for years. And you can tell it just by being around him.
The words are from Psalm 118, and his name is Edward. At ninety now, and not in the best of health, the gratitude that has defined his life is no less evident today.
A parish priest par excellence, a human being par excellence, Edward presided at our wedding, and his example shapes the way I (aspire to) live on a daily basis.
+
Indeed, the practice of giving thanks is as essential to being a Christian as is the practice of love.
In the language (below) of our prayer book, to be a Christian is to give thanks in all things.
+
Happy Thanksgiving!,
your brother in Christ,
Wallace+
A General Thanksgiving
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.
We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.
We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.
Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.
