The Giving of Thanks
Thursday next we Americans keep a day of national thanksgiving for the blessings we enjoy, in hope that we may prove ourselves worthy of them. For Christians, however, the giving of thanks is not just an annual event, but the very substance of our lives; for we give thanks not just for “life and health and safety, power to work and leisure to rest, for all that is beautiful in creation and in the lives of men”; but “above all for our spiritual mercies in Christ Jesus, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory”. Set free by Christ from sin and death, we are passing over from guilt to gratitude, from fear to love, from self-gratifying greed, to God-glorifying charity. In these noble prayers, drawn from the Canadian Prayer Book’s Form of Thanksgiving for the Blessings of Harvest, we pray God to “fill our hearts with all joy and peace in believing”.
O ALMIGHTY God and heavenly Father, we glorify thee that we are once more permitted to enjoy the fulfilment of thy gracious promise, that, while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest shall not fail. Blessed be thou, who hast given us the fruits of the earth in their season. Teach us to remember that it is not by bread alone that man doth live; but grant that we may feed on him who is the true bread which cometh down from heaven even Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour; to whom with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
O MERCIFUL God, at whose bidding the earth withholdeth her increase, or rendereth her fruits in their season: Give us grace that we may learn, both from thy mercies and thy judgements, our entire dependence upon thee for the supply of our daily bread; and grant that we, remembering that thy blessings are for our trial as well as for our comfort, may with thankful hearts give unto thee of thine own, ministering gladly to the maintenance of thy Church, and the relief of the poor and the afflicted, the widow and the orphan, to the glory of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O LORD, we pray thee, sow the seed of thy word in our hearts, and send down upon us the showers of thy grace, that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, and at the great day of harvest may be gathered by the holy angels into the heavenly garner; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O ALMIGHTY God, whose dearly beloved Son, after his resurrection, sent his Apostles into all the world, and, on the day of Pentecost, endued them with special gifts of the Holy Spirit, that they might gather in the spiritual harvest: We beseech thee to look down from heaven upon the fields, now white unto the harvest, and to send forth more labourers to gather fruit unto eternal life. And grant us grace so to help them with our prayers and offerings, that when the harvest of the earth is ripe, and the time for reaping is come, we, together with them, may rejoice before thee, according to the joy in harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
ALMIGHTY Father, who hast watered our fields with the dew of heaven, and poured out upon us the former and the latter rain, according to our need, and hast reserved unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest: We bless and praise thee that, in love to thy children, thou hast at this season bestowed upon us such an abundant supply for all our necessities. Grant that we may never be destitute of those better gifts which nourish and enrich the soul. Pour down, we beseech thee, upon us thy heavenly grace, and endue us with the gifts of thy Holy Spirit, that we may bring forth abundant fruits to thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Last week I travelled with Fr Jameson and St. John’s lay delegates (Skip Jennings, Stacy Jennings, John Bradshaw, and Rick Wright) to the annual Convention of the Diocese of Georgia, held in Tifton, about four hours drive west of Savannah. As we passed through the small towns of the hinterland we saw the damage wrought by storm Helene – huge trees uprooted, roofs patched in blue tarpaulin, piles of debris, and devastated pecan groves. It was an appropriate setting for the main topic of the Convention, which was the reality of institutional decline in the Episcopal Church, especially in the smaller congregations of a largely rural diocese. If the secularizing headwinds of recent decades have not come as suddenly as hurricane, their long-term impact has been equally damaging. Formal religious affiliation in the USA has been declining right across the spectrum, but especially in mainline denominations like our own. The impact falls hard on small rural congregations, which are increasingly unable to afford to pay full-time clergy, and are often in areas without part-time or retired clergy to call on. Developing strategies for survival in such circumstances is critical, and the Convention’s conversations naturally had their needs in focus.