Thanksgiving Day (U.S.)
CAC affiliate faculty and Cherokee descendant Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley shares a prayer of Thanksgiving, reminding us of the preciousness of all life in its diversity:
Great Mystery,
I am humbled that I will never know everything about you, but I am grateful that through the lives of the other I can know more of you. While I thank you for those who are like me, I especially thank you for those who are different than me. I thank you for those who are younger than me and those older than me; for those who have less than me and those who have more than me; for those more physically able than me and those less physically able than me; for those whose skin is of a lighter hue than me and those of a darker hue than me; for those of a different gender than me and those of the same gender as me; for those of a different worldview than me and those with a similar worldview to mine. May we together discover a new story for our country where everyone has an equal voice—even those with whom we disagree and even with those who have no voice.
I am thankful for Turtle Island [1], that it can become a place where freedom can take hold and become a place where one day we will all be equal under the law, both under the prevailing social structures, and in our own minds. And for the land itself; may you work through us to restore it to your most beautiful intentions. May all of your creatures, the four-legged, the swimmers, the flying things, the crawling things, and the two-legged creatures all be able to have a home on your land. May we make the water sacred once again, the first medicine that provides life to all your creation. May it not be commodified so as to keep it out of the reaches of any of your creatures, and may it be kept in a way that shows the respect for it that you gave it when you made the water such an important part of this earth.
As I look around this circle we call Mother Earth, I am thankful to you that it is a sacred circle and in the circle no one is more, nor less, than the other. As I look around the sacred circle, I see that I am related to all your creation and that each one in the circle is as sacred as me. You have given us all stories to tell but in all our stories we find you. It is the you in the other that I most value Great Mystery. Please teach me about myself in this sacred circle so I may know you and reflect you more on this good earth, the whole community of creation, including humans. Thank you!
References:
[1] Turtle Island is the name used by some Indigenous tribes to refer to North and Central America.
[2] Randy Woodley, “A Simple Prayer of Thanksgiving,” unpublished. Used with permission.
Woodley invites readers to read his article, “The Thanksgiving Myth: Not A Bad Start” for a different view of Thanksgiving.
Image credit and inspiration: Providence Doucet, Untitled (detail), 2016, photo, Canada, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Like Jesus’ parables, we can look closely at fallen leaves and see things new.
Story from Our Community:
Recently, the Daily Meditations focused on how everything is gift. I’ve reflected on this same concept of gift myself in recent years through revisiting the Parable of the Sower. It seems to me that there is no such thing as a “self-made person.” Our entire life is a gift, including our skills, motivation, and talents. For me, the gospels make it very clear that God’s purposes are the opposite of accumulating wealth, rather our wealth—however much that is—is a gift to be savored.
—Jason O.
