A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

O God,
who has set us in a world of soaring beauty,
and profound mystery. . .
who has enclosed our years within the eternal context
of fragrant spring mornings,
and sparkling winter nights. . .
who has granted us, over the years,
the lilt of lively companionship,
the provocation of ideas and personalities,
the sheer, clear point of joy
in creating a thing of loveliness,
or of excellence,
the steady, solid support of friendships tried, and tested. . .
we thank you.
Above all we thank you,
for the first flowing of conscience.
We look back,
and we recognize, in ourselves,
the dawning of a conviction that life is not simply
a random series of opportunities and disappointments.
We look back,
and we acknowledge that our life has been a gift,
a gift to be accepted - savoured,
a gift to be lived out,
fully lived out between the twin poles of freedom
and responsibility.

And now we step forward in this freedom and this responsibility.,
Free in the knowledge of how little is really essential.
Responsible in the conviction of how much is desperately needed.
Help us, living God,
to maintain this tension,
this heart-rending,
heart-healing tension.
And in all this grant us grace:
that elusive tenderness
that blesses all it touches,
that lightens every load,
that sings in every song
and dances in every step;
that grace which is the flame of love,
leaping up in our hearts,
and setting our lives afire.

Amen

by Barrie Shepherd - from: Alive Now, May/June 1974)