The American holiday of Thanksgiving has a complex and disturbing history that too few of us know (you can learn from Mark Charles about its hidden history here). Yet giving thanks is a good thing, as Diana Butler Bass explains (and Psalm 92 agrees!).

One of the joys and honors I experienced this year was team teaching a workshop with Franciscan Action Network’s Michele Dunne. As part of our workshop, we linked up sections of the beautiful and profound Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address to quotes from St. Francis of Assisi. You may find them helpful for a reflection around your table today. (A is the Haudenosaunee Address and B is from St. Francis.)

One of the reasons I love these resources is that they link thanksgiving for creation and thanksgiving to creation; they thank the Creator not to the exclusion of creation but in connection with creation. As St. Francis says, they praise God through creation … in a way that includes creation.

A: Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things.

So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people.

Now our minds are one.

 

B: Be conscious,  o human, of the wondrous state

in which the Lord God has placed you,

for you were created in God’s image and likeness

according to the Spirit.

And yet all the creatures under heaven, each according to its nature,

serve, know, and obey their Creator better than you.

 

A: We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun.

Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west,

bringing the light of a new day.

He is the sources of all the fires of life.

B: Praised be you, my Lord, through all your creatures

especially Sir Brother Sun

who is the day through whom you bring us light.

And he is lovely, shining with great splendor,

for he heralds you, Most High.

 

A: We put our minds together to give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the Moon, who lights the nighttime sky.

She … governs the movement of the ocean tides.

By her changing face we measure time…

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry.

We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness

and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things.

When we travel at night, they guide us.

 

B: Praised by you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars.

In heaven you formed them,

full of light, precious and fair.

 

A: We are thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds.

We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us

and purify the air we breathe.

They help us to bring the change of seasons.

From the four directions they come, bringing us messages

and giving us strength.

 

B: And praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind

through air and cloud

through calm and every weather

by which you sustain your creatures.

 

A: We give thanks to all the waters of the world

for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength.

Water is life.

We know its power in many forms—

waterfalls and rain, mists and streams,

rivers and oceans.

 

B: Praised be you, my Lord,

through Sister Water,

so very useful and humble,

precious and chaste.

 

A: We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth,

for she gives us all they we need for life.

She supports our feet as we walk about upon her.

It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time.

 

B: Praised be you, my Lord

through our Sister, Mother Earth,

who sustains us and directs us,

bringing forth all kinds of fruits

and colored flowers and herbs.

 

A: Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit,

and 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.

 

B: Most High, all powerful, good Lord,

yours is the praise, the glory and

the honor and every blessing.

O praise and bless my Lord,

give God thanks and serve

with great humility.