Peter Marshall's Thanksgiving Day Prayer

A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Father, we around this table thank Thee:
for Thy great gift of life,
that Thy love for us is not dependent upon any unworthiness of ours,
for good health,
that we know neither hunger nor want,
for warm clothes to wear,
for those who love us best,
for friends whose world of encouragement have often chased away dark clouds,
for the zest of living,
for many an answered prayer,
for kindly providences that have preserved us from danger and harm.

We thank Thee that still we live in a land bountifully able to supply all our needs, a land which still by Thy Providence knows peace, whose skies are not darkened by the machines of the enemy, whose fields and woodlands are still unblasted by flames of war, a land with peaceful valleys and smiling meadows still serene.

O help us to appreciate all that we have, to be content with it, to be grateful for it, to be proud of it --not in an arrogant pride that boasts, but in a grateful pride that strives to be more worthy.

In Thy name, to whose bounty we owe these blessings spread before us, to Thee we give our gratitude.

Amen.

-- Peter Marshall