Tag Archives: Thanksgiving 2014

It is important to read this prayer through to the end, even if you find it uncomfortable at times.

A Thanksgiving Prayer – by Charles Moore

O Lord, how can I thank you for the bounty on my table
and the extras stuffed in my fridge,
when thousands of children still die every day of starvation?

for the comforts of my home,
when over 600,000 Americans are homeless?

for my health,
when millions of people can’t afford to see a doctor when sick or fill the prescriptions they need?

O Lord, how can I thank you for the work I have that pays the bills,
when so many are unemployed or don’t earn a living wage?

for a life free of calamities,
when earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, and fires ravage entire populations?

for the leisure time I spend reading for pleasure,
when nearly a billion people are unable to read a book or sign their name?

O Lord, how can I thank you for a life of peace,
when bullets fly in inner cities and schools, and
when drones, landmines, missiles, and sanctions stalk the lives of millions?

for this country of ours, so blessed and free,
when the soldiers who fought for it are killing themselves at a rate of 22 a day?

for the wonders of nature,
when half the people on this planet are stuck in cities?

O Lord, how can I thank you for my wife’s tender love,
when half the marriages around me will fall apart?

for my child’s smile,
when more than one in four children don’t even live with their fathers?

for my daughter’s happiness
when thousands of teenage girls are cutting or starving themselves in quiet desperation?

O Lord, how can I thank you for the freedom to go where I want, say what I think, and do what I like,
when up to 27 million people work as slaves or are trafficked for commercial sex exploitation every year?

for friends to love and who love me,
when every fifth person lives alone and has no more than one significant conversation every six months?

for giving me faith and hope, a reason to live,
when one in ten American adults reports they are depressed?

O Lord, how can I thank you for all the blessings you bestow,
unless I spend less on myself,
give more to others,
befriend the friendless,
help the helpless,
strengthen the weak,
lift up the downcast,
give faith to the faithless,
pray for the hopeless,
thank the thankless,
defend the defenseless,
embrace the rejected,
clothe the naked,
and feed the hungry?

O Lord, I do thank you,
for I have so much to thank you for.

But one thing I ask of you, and one thing only:
help me to thank you not just with heart and lips,
but by the very life I live.

From:  http://www.plough.com/en/articles/2013/november/a-thanksgiving-prayer