Thanksgiving Prayers

 

Thanksgiving Prayers

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
(Mathew 11:28-30)

 

        The Holiday season has arrived. Thanksgiving just passed, and surely we all spent four days meditating and offering prayers of thanks for our blessings. WHAT?? That's not what we did at my house. In June, our daughter Karen and I were downtown and hosted thousands at a race we created in the early 1980s. We were honored by Twin Cities in Motion, and I got to be the starter and do the race. After that, we had a family gathering at my daughter Claire's. The day's activities were a lot for a couple totaling 167 years of age!

 

        As Christians, we are coming on a very special day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Our calendars are full of special events: holiday parties, Winter sports, Christmas pageants and services, shopping, and yearend business meetings. However, our focus is often on gifts, parties, and getting our acts together for the New Year. Is all this activity a bad thing? I think not, especially if we can get through it all by keeping Christ at our side and on our minds. Sometimes it just gets out of control.

 

Christianity and spirituality are beautiful allies during busy times.

Thought for Today: Let us focus on finding more time for ourselves during this busy period. Let's take a few minutes each day to let Christ help us enjoy the season. Let us be selfish once a day and take time out from our obligations to society.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we are overburdened with problems. People are dying at war and on the streets of our cities. We are busy with final-year business activities and planning for Christmas. Many of us will be traveling over the holidays. Please give me the power to be aware of Christ's presence through all of this. Help me find a way to walk through this activity with God as my co-pilot.
Amen