Bless Your Food Today with One of These Graces from Around the World
Every year at Thanksgiving I write about this book — an inclusive and beautiful collection of prayers and blessings from all over the world, gathered thoughtfully from many eras and traditions of belief. It’s a rich volume of 160 poems, prayers, and songs that express gratitude for the table and the life it brings.
If you’re in want of a quiet moment today or a special grace to say over your feast, I highly recommend downloading it and spending a half hour in its pages. Read on for a couple of my favorites from the book. Happy Thanksgiving!
Prayer 2
Here with flowers I interweave my friends.
Let us rejoice!
Our common house is the earth.
I come too, here I am standing;
now I am going to forge songs,
oh my friend!
God has sent me as a messenger.
I am transformed into a poem.
— Nahuatl (Mexico) blessing (circa 1300 BC)
Prayer 148
Bless our hearts
to hear in the
breaking of bread
the song of the universe.
— Father John Giuliani (b. 1932)