November 21, 2022 | by Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner | NCNW National Chaplain and President of Skinner Leadership Institute| barbarawilliams-skinner.com
We praise your holy name this Thanksgiving season, our all-Powerful, All-Sufficient, Anchor of our Souls and Author of Life. Your word reminds us to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances...” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). But today, O Lord, our healer, our help, and our hope in ages past and days to come, we are facing difficult times for which it is hard to utter thanks without ceasing.
The lingering impact of a three-year pandemic isolating us from one another and often from ourselves in frightening ways.
The staggering effect of a pandemic of senseless violence desecrating the sacredness of all human life
The soul-piercing, never-ending racial pandemic dividing God’s children by differences like race and skin color we should be celebrating as a beautiful symphony of limitless human possibilities.
The everyday racialized assaults on the dignity, value, and humanity of poor, non-White Americans and brown strangers from many nations seeking opportunities all people deserve.
And yet, O God, we in the land of the living, upheld daily by your grace and love, have more reasons to rejoice in this season of Thanksgiving than we could ever count.
We thank you for life and the opportunity to live in a nation where the rule of law and democracy still reign.
We thank you for the unconditional love, support, and prayers of family and friends sustaining each of us when life’s trials and tribulations overwhelm us.
Most of all, gracious God, we praise you for undeserved lovingkindness and tender mercy that props up our fragile existence daily. So, we will thank you all the days of our lives, Lord God, for being our never-leaving, never-forsaking shelter through life’s storms and our security in an unsecured world Amen
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