Compassion, Empathy and Service

 

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

There are moments when the heart is generous,
and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here,
one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
- Wendell Berry

Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Jesus (Mathew 22:39)

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
Our religion is defined by how we choose to treat the Least of These.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

We Belong to Each Other

What is Your Religion?
   

Thanksgiving Day 2024

 

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Thankful and Content
    

Empathy, Compassion and Service

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

There are moments when the heart is generous,
and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here,
one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
- Wendell Berry

Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Jesus (Mathew 22:39)

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
Our religion is defined by how we choose to treat the Least of These.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

We Belong to Each Other

What is Your Religion?
   

Thanksgiving Day 2023

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Thankful and Content
    

Jesus' Teaching of Compassion and Service

 

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

There are moments when the heart is generous,
and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here,
one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
- Wendell Berry

Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Jesus (Mathew 22:39)

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
Our religion is defined by how we choose to treat the Least of These.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

We Belong to Each Other

What is Your Religion?
   

Thanksgiving Day 2022

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Thankful and Content
    

 

Thanksgiving Day 2021

 

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Thankful and Content
    

Thanksgiving Day 2020

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Thankful and Content
    

Thanksgiving 2019

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

Further reading: My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Zero-Based Gratitude

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Thankful and Content
    

Walk Humbly With Your God

This is what the Lord asks of you: only this,
to act justly, to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly with your God.
- Micah 6:8

The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Know that you are loved.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you share your last crust of bread with a beggar,
you mustn't behave as if you were throwing a bone to a dog.
You must give humbly, and thank him for allowing you
to have a part in his hunger.
- Giovanni Guareschi

Further reading: Know that You have been Blessed

Have a Conversation With God, Today

Keep the Divine Spark Burning
        

Thanksgiving Day 2018

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

Further reading: My Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Zero-Based Gratitude

Thankful and Content

Giving Thanks for the Commonplace

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving
    

Invite the Poor

Jesus said: "When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you."
- Luke 14:13-14

The test of our progress is not whether we add more
to the abundance of those who have much.
It is whether we provide enough for those who have little.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

If the misery of the poor be caused
not by the laws of nature,
but by our institutions,
great is our sin.
- Charles Darwin

Jesus preached more and taught more about helping
the poor and the sick and the hungry
than he did about heaven and hell.
Shouldn't that tell us something?
- John Grisham

Further reading: Helping Others

All Brothers and Sisters

Out Purpose is To Serve

Unity with Spirit and All Creation
   

The Test...

The test of our progress is not whether we add more
to the abundance of those who have much.
It is whether we provide enough for those who have little.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

There are pastors who won't go to people's sick beds.
How can people of God turn their back on the sick,
poor and hungry?
- James Robinson

Jesus said: "When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you."
- Luke 14:13-14

If the misery of the poor be caused
not by the laws of nature,
but by our institutions,
great is our sin.
- Charles Darwin

Jesus preached more and taught more about helping
the poor and the sick and the hungry
than he did about heaven and hell.
Shouldn't that tell us something?
- John Grisham


Further reading: Helping Others

All Brothers and Sisters

Out Purpose is To Serve

Unity with Spirit and All Creation
   

Thanksgiving 2017

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Thankful and Content

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Giving Thanks for the Commonplace
    

Thanksgiving 2016

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

Further reading: Thankful and Content

Zero-Based Gratitude

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks for the Commonplace
    

Thanksgiving 2015

We gather today in gratitude for the bounty of the land,
the joyful company around this table,
and all the other blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: A List of Gratitudes - a Thanksgiving

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Appreciating Friends

Thank You Prayer
   

Caring for the Least of These

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

There are moments when the heart is generous,
and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here,
one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
- Wendell Berry

Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Jesus (Mathew 22:39)

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
Our religion is defined by how we choose to treat the Least of These.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

We Belong to Each Other

What is Your Religion?
   

Feed Just One

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
- Mother Teresa

If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.
- W. Clement Stone

For it is in giving that we receive.
- St. Francis of Assisi

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money.
Money is not enough, money can be got,
but they need your hearts to love them.
So, spread your love everywhere you go.
- Mother Teresa

Giving liberates the soul of the giver.
- Maya Angelou

You can't live a perfect day without doing something
for someone who will never be able to repay you.
- John Wooden

Is there someone who will be alone on Thanksgiving unless you share your table with them?

Further reading:  Doing God's Work

Gratitude for This Food

Kindness, Compassion, Generosity

As you sow, so shall you reap

Be a Light

Brotherly Love

Generosity

Service