MAX COOTS' THANKSGIVING PRAYER
"Let us give thanks for a bounty of people:"
"For children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are."
"For generous friends with hearts and smiles as bright as their blossoms;"
"For feisty friends as tart as apples;"
"For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we've had them;"
"For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;"
"For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn, and the others, plain as potatoes and as good for you;"
"For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes, and serious friends, as complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as onions;"
"For friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see you through the winter;"
"For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;"
"For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings;"
"And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, and who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter;"
"For all these we give thanks."
HOWARD THURMAN'S THANKSGIVING PRAYER
"Today, I make my Sacrament of Thanksgiving."
"I begin with the simple things of my days:"
"Fresh air to breathe,"
"Cool water to drink,"
"The taste of food,"
"The protection of houses and clothes,"
"The comforts of home."
"For all these I make an act of Thanksgiving this day!"
"I bring to mind all the warmth of humankind that I have known:"
"My mother's arms,"
"The strength of my father"
"The playmates of my childhood,"
"The wonderful stories brought to me from the lives"
"Of many who talked of days gone by when fairies"
"And giants and all kinds of magic held sway;"
"The tears I have shed, the tears I have seen;"
"The excitement of laughter and the twinkle in the"
"Eye with its reminder that life is good."
"For all these I make an act of Thanksgiving this day"
"I finger one by one the messages of hope that awaited me at the crossroads:"
"The smile of approval from those who held in their hands the reins of my security;"
"The tightening of the grip in a simple handshake when I"
"Feared the step before me in darkness;"
"The whisper in my heart when the temptation was fiercest"
"And the claims"
"of appetite were not to be denied;"
"The crucial word said, the simple sentence from an open"
"Page when my decision hung in the balance."
"For all these I make an act of Thanksgiving this day."
"I pass before me the main springs of my heritage:"
"The fruits of labors of countless generations who lived before me,"
"Without whom my own life would have no meaning;"
"The seers who saw visions and dreamed dreams;"
"The prophets who sensed a truth greater than the mind could grasp"
"And whose words would only find fulfillment"
"In the years which they would never see;"
"The workers whose sweat has watered the trees,"
"The leaves of which are for the healing of the nations;"
"The pilgrims who set their sails for lands beyond all horizons,"
"Whose courage made paths into new worlds and far off places;"
"The saviors whose blood was shed with a recklessness that only a dream"
"Could inspire and God could command."
"For all this I make an act of Thanksgiving this day."
"I linger over the meaning of my own life and the commitment"
"To which I give the loyalty of my heart and mind:"
"The little purposes in which I have shared my loves,"
"My desires, my gifts;"
"The restlessness which bottoms all I do with its stark insistence"
"That I have never done my best, I have never dared"
"To reach for the highest;"
"The big hope that never quite deserts me, that I and my kind"
"Will study war no more, that love and tenderness and all the"
"inner graces of Almighty affection will cover the life of the"
"children of God as the waters cover the sea."
"All these and more than mind can think and heart can feel,"
"I make as my sacrament of Thanksgiving to Thee,"
"Our Father, in humbleness of mind and simplicity of heart."
"Robert Allan Hill is dean of Marsh Chapel, a School of Theology professor of New Testament and pastoral theology, and the author of "The Courageous Gospel "(WIPF & Stock, 2013). He can be reached at "rahill@bu.edu"."
"POV" is an opinion page that provides timely commentaries from students, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues: on-campus, local, state, national, or international. Anyone interested in submitting a piece, which should be about 700 words long, should contact Rich Barlow at "barlowr@bu.edu"."
