Almighty God,
we pray, reflect, meditate
in different ways,
but come together to give thanks.
This Thanksgiving week
we acknowledge
times are hard:
hostility and tension
fill our airwaves
and our lives.
But Thanksgiving is a choice:
Give thanks, build on, moments that give hope;
or give up, succumbing to despair.

On this House floor last week
Congressman John Lewis walked across the aisle,
honoring, embracing, Senator Johnny Isakson
with simple but inspiring words:
“I will come over to meet you, brother.”
When we see another not as other,
but instead as brother, sister, neighbor,
that is cause for thanks.

During holidays some feast
and some go hungry —
not for bread alone,
but for kindness and for hope.
When words and actions bridge a gap;
when character and decency touch our hearts;
that is cause for thanks.
God, help us give thanks.
Celebrate good.
And hold on to faith that better times will come.

May we say, Amen.