A Thanksgiving Prayer

Lord God--
Thank you for your many blessings.
For the gift of friends and family, and especially for the company of people you have brought together at this table. Each one of us is precious in your sight. May we treat each other with the love and respect that we deserve, as you modeled in the life of your son, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for providing for our material needs. Thank you for this meal we have before us; it is truly the bounty of your earth. You give us all we need, yet we never seem satisfied. Heal us of this grasping after more. Keep us mindful of the needs of others. Make us generous. Teach us to waste nothing.
Thank you for the beauty and for the mystery of your creation. You are the master craftsman, and the master gardener. We can barely begin to grasp how you exercise your creative power in this world, yet we are its grateful recipients.
And thank you for life. From conception you have given us the greatest gift of all: a chance to be in your world, to make good things of what you give us, and, foremost, to be your own children. Hold us and never let us go. May we never cease to be grateful for the days you have given us on this extraordinary journey through your beautiful world.
Thank you, good Lord.
Amen.