At the Thanksgiving Day service at church yesterday, I was surprised that the Prayers of the People took the form of the Great Thanksgiving litany (BCP page 836). I confess I don’t remember ever having noticed it before.
Later on, I suggested to my wife that we use the same litany for Thanksgiving dinner. As usual, we were hosting extended family and friends, ranging in age from 16 to 91. All but one or two of us were Episcopalians, so a Prayer Book piece shouldn’t be too unfamiliar. My wife smiled tolerantly and wondered out loud whether “the college crowd,” viz., the teenagers and young adults, would think it was too long.
(I was curious myself whether some the college crowd would even participate, given that their present beliefs are a bit of a mystery, at least to me.)
I copied the litany from the Anglicans Online Web site and printed it out. It occurred to me that people might find it more satisfying to take turns reading the invocations, instead of me doing them all and everyone else merely saying “We thank you, Lord.” Names popped into my head: This one is perfect for So-and-So, that one fits with Whosis’s personality, etc. So I annotated the printout by hand with a name for each invocation, then made photocopies (our all-in-one multifunction printer is great for that).
When it came time to sit down for dinner, I handed out the copies. Each reader read his or her part seriously and respectfully, including the teenagers. People seemed to appreciate that they were being asked to participate in a structured prayer from the Prayer Book, as opposed to being subjected to an endless extemporaneous prayer, or worse yet a home-brew sermon. I think everyone also enjoyed having succinct statements reminding us of what we ought to be grateful for.
After we said “Amen,” several people made favorable comments, and a couple of them folded up their copies to take with them. My sister laughed and said (tongue in cheek), “that’s really cool — the Prayer Book actually has prayers!”
Here’s the text (copied from Father Jake’s blog, where it was featured yesterday also):
A Litany of Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us.
For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,
We thank you, Lord.For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
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