While at a retreat, this liturgy was presented to me. I really identified with it, Highland. I found it fitting to share with you, especially in light of it being Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Psalm 9:1-2).
“God, I present my heart to you. I feel grateful. I feel it in my bones.
Fear can quietly slither under the door of my thankfulness. Pride can also reach around me, like my own hand, patting me on my back.
I pay attention to the places where my soul bends, twists and maneuvers away from the purity of my gratitude. I hold my feelings of gratitude the way I hold something special; like holding a baby, I won’t be reckless or distracted. I don’t tighten my grip or loosen it too much.
I honor the gifts You have given me, God. “Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow.” I have been given so much.
I hold every single gift with gentle surrender. I open my hands. Thankfulness is on my lips. With all my heart, I give thanks to You, Lord. I sing my praise, speak my joy, shout my delight. I will let gratitude be gravity that grounds me in my life.
My thankfulness can exist alongside any feeling.
Anxiety—Gratitude
Sandness—Gratitude
Worry—Gratitude
Confusion—Gratitude
No feeling can cancel my thankfulness, because, Lord, Your gifts are present in all things. God, the greatest gift You have for my life is to love me. And, my life, though flawed and fragile, is a gift. I feel gratitude welling up inside me. I will give thanks again and again — I will give thanks until my last breath. For what has been given; has been taken away — for all that my heart holds dear.”
— Anjuli Paschal
Enjoy Thanksgiving, Highland! We have so much for which to be grateful!
I love you.
Rob