Happy Thanksgiving, 2023!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

This table grace has been meaningful for me for the last few years:

For this breath, for this heartbeat

For this meal with these companions

For the web of life of which we’re part

We give thanks with all our heart.

 

For sun and rain, for soil and season,

For ocean, mountain, forest, meadow,

For the web of life of which we’re part

We give thanks with all our heart.

 

For all to whom this food connects us

From field and farm to store and table

For the web of life of which we’re part

We give thanks with all our heart.

 

For bread and wine upon this table

For this deep mystical communion

For the web of life of which we’re part

We give thanks with all our heart.

This beautiful Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving address is also one of my favorite guides for gratitude.

https://americanindian.si.edu/environment/pdf/01_02_Thanksgiving_Address.pdf

Here is a simplified version of this beautiful address that could be of value at your dinner table today or any day. A reader can lead, and all can respond to each line with “Now our minds are one.”

We bring our minds and hearts together as one, in thankfulness for the beauty and harmony of creation and in commitment to live together in beauty and harmony.

We give thanks to and for the Earth who sustains us like a mother and fills us with joy, for rock and marsh and mountain and meadow and desert, for the miracle of soil, and all the mysteries among which we walk every day.

We give thanks to and for waters … cloud, mist, spring, stream, river, ocean … for water is life.

We give thanks to and for all plants … all so beautiful, all so essential to life, and many important for food and medicine for us.

We give thanks to and for trees … these tall standing brothers and sisters provide for us in many ways, and we depend on them and enjoy being in their presence, as they inspire us to understand we are all part of one tree of life.

We give thanks to and for the fish who depend upon clean and healthy waters for life, just as we do.

We give thanks to and for our siblings the birds whose colors and songs and deep wisdom teach and inspire us every day.

We give thanks to and for all other animals, our neighbors and siblings, who teach us and help us in many ways and with whom we share the gift of life on this beautiful Earth.

We give thanks to and for the four winds, the four seasons, for thunder and rain and snow and all weather, for tides and darkness and light, for the moon and stars and the sun. They are beautiful and their majesty humbles us, and without them, we could not survive.

We give thanks to and for enlightened teachers, past and present, who teach us to live in harmony, who warn us when we are wandering from the wise path, and whose words and example are great gifts from the Creator.

We give thanks to and for our family, friends, neighbors, and all people who walk in peace and join us in a spirit of love and gratitude, and are mirrors to us of the Creator’s joy, goodness, and love.

Finally, we bring our minds and hearts together as one to give deep and sincere thanks to the Creator, the Great Spirit, present in all for which we are grateful, and we send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.