Gratitude Expressed in Love

WE come to Thee, O God, with words of thanksgiving on our lips. We thank Thee for Thy gifts. They are as varied as our needs, as manifold as our desires. Our hearts cry for love, and Thou hast given us the love of parent and of friend, that have been as Thy benediction on our lives. Our minds crave light and knowledge, and Thy Spirit has kindled a lamp within us. We long for the vision of beauty, and Thou hast revealed Thyself gloriously in the open page of Nature. May we take these gifts, not for their own sake only, but as steps with which to mount upward to Thee, who art the perfection of love and truth and beauty. Bathe us in Thy re-creating life, that we may cast off all meanness, all despair, all sin and shame, and enter into the secret of Thy eternal gladness. Help us to turn our earthly blessings to ends divine.

We cannot fathom the mystery of Thy being, but we rejoice that Thou knowest us and the temptations that try us, and the sorrows that beat upon us and cast us down, and the pains of body and of mind that cloud our spirits and make sad our world. Leave us not as those who are fatherless and outcast, but bring to us Thy dawn, and shed light upon our path. When we are wounded with mental and physical distresses, be at hand to heal and save. When the cares and troubles of this life threaten to kill the soul, let Thy Spirit sustain us and create for us an inner world of hope and faith and love, where we may take refuge and hear Thy voice speaking to us to warn, to comfort and to guide. Save us, O Lord, from the weakness of self-pity. In misery and suffering let us turn to Thy pity, which alone can strengthen, cleanse, and uplift. Let not failure or sorrow embitter us, or shut us off from those about us, but may we find a cure for our own griefs by pouring the oil of consolation and the wine of gladness into other lives. Grant us brave hearts and true. Inspire us with firmness to carry out every holy purpose. Forbid that we should waste the time that is left in vain regrets for the past, or vague dreams of the future, but let us be up and doing, knowing that though we may fall, thou wilt not cast us away. May we gather up the fragments of time and opportunity which remain that nothing be lost. Grant that we may see Thee, not only in the thunder and tempest and earthquake, not only in the great moments of spiritual exaltation, but also in the commonplace duties, in the familiar relationships of life. May our home-life be glorified with the spirit of love and mutual helpfulness. Remove from our midst all wrath and clamour and evil-speaking, and bitterness and estrangement, and make us gentle and easily entreated, the children of a forgiving God. May we know, with a spiritual knowledge, that Thou art Love, and that dwelling in Love we dwell in Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.