Photo by Brian Auer/Flickr, cc by-nc-nd 2.0 Thanksgiving is a
time when many families gather in gratitude, and sometimes in
prayer. Paul Raushenbush says his family prayer was written by
his great-grandad, Walter Rauschenbusch. Composed around the
turn of the twentieth century, the theologian and Baptist social
reformer’s words remain as beautiful and poignant today as they
did a hundred years ago. Thanksgiving Day Prayer by Walter
Rauschenbusch (1861–1918) For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water, For the everlasting
hills And the never-resting winds, For trees and the common
grass underfoot. We thank you for our senses By which we hear
the songs of birds, And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits, And rejoice in the feel of the
snow, And smell the breath of the spring. Grant us a heart wide
open to all this beauty; And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing When even the common thornbush Is aflame
with your glory, O God ou