In this Issue
November 2005

FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK
A prayer of Thanksgiving
By Rev. Sara Ascher
Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church

Dear Friends,

The season of Thanksgiving is upon us. In honor those who through the years have helped to create and build this country, for which we are thankful, I offer this prayer adapted from Mordecai Kaplan.

Creative Source of all being, from You come our blessings from day to day and from year to year. The towering mountains and shaded forests, the abundant streams and fruitful earth are Your gift to us. May we preserve this gift for the coming generations so that they, too, may give thanks for the blessings that will be theirs.

For this land so richly blessed, we raise our voice in thanks. Your children have both lived here long and come to these shores from many lands in quest of liberty and a new life and even those who came against their will have long labored for liberty and new life. Many are pilgrims to this western world — here may we find a safe haven, soil on which to prosper, and opportunity to outgrow old fears and superstitions.

For the indomitable spirit and courage of those who came before us — For all those who traversed land and sea and created a diverse nation — For those who lives were lost in our coming and our settling, may their spirits live on in us. May the heritage of fortitude they passed down through the generations keep us strong in the face of disappointment, adversity and tragedy. May we be forever grateful for what their labor and lives fashioned, for their hard work and dogged determination in the dream of this the United States of America.
For our country, for its freedom promised, attained and yet to be known, for the riches of its natural blessings, and for a growing harmony that may one day touch all its citizens, we give thanks.

God of justice, inspire all who dwell in our land with loyalty to the ideals of this nation’s founders and the ideals of those who were here long before the first settler. Give us wisdom and strength to labor for the wellbeing of our country and one another. Fill us with the spirit of kindness, generosity and peace, that this land may be a beacon of light to many peoples.
May the gifts of our ancestors go with us as we take a moment out of our hectic lives to give thanks for all the blessings in which we share. May we carry the spirit of Thanksgiving in our hearts this day and in all days to come. So May it Be. Amen.

Blessings.

Rev. Sara Ascher is pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church.

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