A General Thanksgiving

One lovely prayer hidden in the back of our Book of Common Prayer, is A General Thanksgiving, written by Episcopal theologian and liturgist The Rev. Dr. Charles Price. It is appropriate for use at any time and is well worth praying slowly and thinking through.

I took the photo below in the sacristy of the chapel at Virginia Seminary at Charles Price's funeral. The photo remains linked for me to this prayer and so I share them together.

A General Thanksgiving
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church