This morning, after the oven had preheated, while the pumpkin pies bake, before the table is set, before the turkey has hit the oven, and before my family fills empty chairs I set out to write a blessing of gratitude. I wanted to share it here because in my long list of things I’m grateful for you all are a huge part of it. Thank you for being here.

A Thanksgiving Blessing

Let’s begin this meal with grace and gratitude.

Gratitude is the abundance that is before us that could be easy to miss if we didn’t pause to acknowledge it. 

It’s the acknowledgement of the people who came before us. They tended the land, cared for the seas and planted trees they knew would never tower over them but they hoped enough to plant them for us. 

Today, we’re enjoying this bounty on the land of the Duwamish people. For generations they have been and continue to be in relationship with this place. It is because of this care that we can enjoy the abundance here. 

It’s the seeds from previous years that produce the beans, the corn, the wheat on our table. The soil that nourished seedlings and the sun that propelled their growth. 

Abundance is the filled chairs around this table. Each of us holds love, pain, hope, fear and our own stories. We come to this table because we are family, friends and community and through it all we still love one another immensely. 

We acknowledge these gifts to remind us of our abundance. Gathering together in the spirit of thanks-giving brings us closer to a world that is filled with more joy, beauty, and justice. It is a reminder that we have everything we need. 

With this overflow of abundance may we give back so that, like the seasons of earth, the cycle continues. May we have enough hope and love to plant the trees we will never see flourish.

Thank you for your presence here, for contributing to this abundance. I am so grateful for each of you. 

Amen and let’s eat.