Today
I will share some thoughts with you today about thanksgiving. To do so, I begin with a quote from my old friend and mentor, Frederick Buechner, from his book, “Beyond Words.”
“It is a moment of light surrounded on all sides by darkness and oblivion. In the entire history of the universe, let alone your own history, there has never been another day like it and there will never be another just like it again. It is the point to which all your yesterdays have been leading since the hour of your birth.”
“This is the day the Lord has made,” says Psalm 118:24. “Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” All other days have either disappeared into darkness and oblivion or not yet emerged from it. Today is the only day there is: Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2023.
Collect for Thanksgiving Day
Almighty and gracious Father, we give thee thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we beseech thee, faithful stewards of the great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the Glory of they Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN.
“The Book of Common Prayer,” page. 194.
See also ‘The Litany of Thanksgiving’ in “The Book of Common Prayer” on page 836.
