Thanksgiving Resources
Sarah B. Anderson wrote a simple and beautiful Thanksgiving liturgy you can use around your table this week. You’ll find it here:
Here’s another simple Thanksgiving prayer that I often use as a table grace. I call it “Web of Life (Table Grace)”. You can invite everyone to respond to the prompt “For the web of life of which we’re part” with the words “We give thanks with all our heart.”
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.
And if someone says something offensive, false, or harmful during the meal, here’s a simple script to invite them into something more constructive:
They: [something offensive, false, harmful)
You: Wow. I see that differently.
They: What do you mean?
You: I don’t want to interrupt this beautiful thanksgiving meal with an argument, but if you’re interested in how your comment makes me feel and why I see things differently, feel free to ask me in private later on.
Then, later, if the person approaches you in private, you can say:
A lot of discussions turn into arguments where egos clash, relationships are damaged, and everyone leaves with their heels more dug in. I’m really not interested in that. One option would be for us to set up some ground rules or guidelines to help our discussion. Would you be open to that?
Then, you can suggest some guidelines like these:
I’d also suggest you put a time limit on your first conversation – say 20, 30, or 40 minutes. Better to end on a good note than get tired and slip into unhealthy ruts.
