First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Pastoral Prayer and Reading
Meister Eckart wrote: “If the only prayer you say in your whole life is ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”
Gathered around this table in a circle of love,
let us take time to offer our grateful thanks:
We give thanks this day for this shelter, this religious home,
this congregation of liberal faith,
for all that went into building it,
& all that goes into maintaining it.
We remember that not all people are welcomed
into such an inclusive & caring congregation
& we pledge to spread the good news of Unitarian Universalism for others.
We give thanks this day for the strength of our religious community
& the ways we care for each other when we are in need,
& remember those among us who have asked for our care:
--We give thanks for the many willing hands who pitch in when there is work to be done,
especially this Saturday for the unloading of the Christmas trees
for our church’s major fundraiser;
thanks to everyone who helped,
all those who helped organize,
and all those who’ve signed up to sell trees this season;
--Those among us recovering from recent surgeries and those dealing with chronic conditions or with mental health issues;
--Those in our church & in our city who have been laid off or RIFed from jobs;
--A member of this faith community has asked for our prayers & good thoughts, as he embarks on a protest at the School of the Americas in Georgia, putting his faith into action;
--Those in our church who cannot afford a big Thanksgiving dinner, & who need our love & care.
If you would like to be of help in any of these situations,
or if you know of someone who needs help, please contact me.
We give thanks this day for the loved ones here present,
& for those who are separated from us --
Those lost to us in death,
Those distant from us in miles,
Those parted from us in conflict.
May we strengthen our ties & keep our memories bright;
And may we find the strength & courage to mend our broken relationships.
We give thanks this day for this food spread before us,
For the earth, sun, rain, wind, & turn of the seasons
that helped it to grow,
And for the human work that brought it to this table.
We recall that not all enjoy this bounty
And pledge to work to end hunger & want for all people.
We give thanks for the peaceful outcome of the recent election,
& for the historic result of that election.
We remember that progress does not come without struggle &
That it is never the result of one generation’s work,
but each increment forward is based on what was achieved before.
On the day after the election, the UUA sent bouquets of yellow roses
To the surviving families of Viola Liuzza and James Reeb, Unitarians
Who were killed in the struggle for civil rights in 1965.
The car read simply: “In loving memory of Viola Liuzza and James Reeb,
And their lasting influence on our country,
from the Unitarian Universalist Association.”
It is hard to give thanks when facing so many challenges.
Thanksgiving can be an issue when money is tight,
when you’ve been laid off,
when you think about all the difficulties facing us
in our personal lives, in the church, and in our city.
In City of Refuge,
the book chosen for the “One Book, One New Orleans” campaign this fall,
author Tom Piazza writes of that first, so-painful, Thanksgiving after Katrina.
Craig and Alice and their 2 children, a white middle-class family from Uptown whose home is relatively unharmed, have evacuated to suburban Chicago to stay with Alice’s elderly uncle and aunt.
Uncle Gus is a crusty old man who listens to conservative talk radio; several times in Katrina’s aftermath, he and Craig have come close to verbal conflict, but were always steered away by one of the women. Craig and Alice have found an apartment in the area, but have returned to Uncle Gus and Aunt Jean’s to share Thanksgiving dinner as an expression of their gratitude. Craig is feeling more than ambivalent. He thinks
…what right did he have to be grateful, when so many other people had lost everything? Blessings seemed so arbitrary, and if you didn’t deserve your blessing, how could you be grateful for it? Why had God been good to them and not to others? It didn’t make sense…
Then Uncle Gus speaks, remembering another Thanksgiving:
…I spent Thanksgiving of 19 and 52 in Korea… And, you know, so many of your friends die when you are in a situation like that, or get injured, disappear, and you wonder why you are still alive and they aren’t…
We had a chaplain there with us, named Father Bill Joseph. He gave a blessing over dinner… everybody was thinking about home and our fam-ilies, and thinking about our pals who would never see their families again, and wondering whether we would make it home.…
Anyway Bill Joseph said, like he was reading our minds, he said, ‘We don’t know why we are here, and others are not. It’s not just that we don’t know; we can’t know. People go away for reasons that make no sense, and we are left here. All we know is that’s how it works; we can’t know why. So the question for those of us who are left, is not why but how – how do you use your time you have left, which you don’t know how much it is. How do you want to live that time? Because that’s the only thing you have any control over.’
And I’ll tell you, that made so much of a difference to every man at those tables in that big hall. It was like he gave us back to ourselves, or…put us back where we needed to be. I don’t know how to say it better than that.”
There’s no need to say it any better than that.
We give thanks this day for all the gifts of love & care we have received,
From the generations that have gone before us.
for their sacrifices we give thanks.
We give thanks this day for all the opportunities
we have to be of service to others;
for all the beauty & wonder of the natural world around us;
for laughter & dreams, for creativity & joy, for rest & quiet;
for everything that gives us comfort & hope when times are hard—
Let us be truly grateful.
For all of these, & for so many blessings we cannot name,
We give thanks this day, & every day.
AMEN – ASHE – SHALOM – SALAAM – NAMASTE – BLESSED BE!
Invitation to the Sharing of Bread
(inspired by a piece by Mark Belletini)
From time immemorial, human beings have come together,
and the sign and token of a welcome reception and warm fellowship
between friends and strangers alike has been the sharing of bread.
The ingredients of bread are pretty much the same all over the world:
a grain of some kind, such as corn, wheat, rice, barley, or oats -- symbolizing the staff and strength of life;
water -- representing freshness and purity and the unity of life.
Sometimes, other ingredients are added:
yeast or soda -- for raising the dough & the spirit;
sugar or honey -- providing food for the yeast & sweetness on the tongue;
eggs -- enriching & enlivening the texture of the bread.
The ingredients are brought together,
mixed, kneaded, raised, punched down for a finer quality,
baked in a hot oven, and cooled.
Being together in a Unitarian Universalist congregation
can feel like that too:
the mixing together of disparate people;
the kneading together of strangers into friends
through shared worship & shared labor;
the raising of our hearts in shared joys & shared sorrows;
the pummelling we feel when engaged together
in worthy conflict over goals, directions, means;
the warmth of shared community;
the cooling comfort of understanding & acceptance
when hot passions are aroused.
Our common table is now laden
with the breads of many places, many heritages,
many backgrounds & cultures & life experiences --
The bread represents all of us,
our pasts, our extended families, our ancestors.
It also represents the many paths,
the many strands, the many life experiences,
that have come together to make up this community of liberal faith.
When you behold this table,
you are not just looking at bread -- you are looking at all of us.
Bread, like the human heart, was made to be broken.
Only broken bread can nourish;
only hearts broken by love can be open.
When bread is broken, it fulfills its purpose --
to sustain & become part of those who eat it.
When the heart is broken, its purpose is fulfilled --
to sustain intimate relationships,
to embrace the bittersweetness that is life & love.
Let us share this bread of our common heritage,
bread broken for us,
bread that represents all of us.
But remember, the bread is only a symbol --
the real staff of life is love,
broken & nourishing.
Let us all be sustained & nourished by this community of seekers,
by this free church & liberal religious tradition.
