From the Blessing of Preservation Acres

God of all blessings,

source of all life,

giver of all grace:

We thank you for the gift of life:
for the breath
that sustains life,

for the food of this earth
that nurtures life,

for the love of family and friends
without which there would be no life.

 

We thank you for the mystery of creation:
for the beauty
that the eye can see,

for the joy
that the ear may hear,

for the unknown
that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder,

 

for the expanse of space
that draws us beyond the definitions of our selves.

We thank you for setting us in communities:
for families
who nurture our becoming,

for friends
who love us by choice,

for companions at work,
who share our burdens and daily tasks,

for strangers
who welcome us into their midst,
for people from other lands
who call us to grow in understanding,

for children
who lighten our moments with delight,
for the unborn,
who offer us hope for the future.

We thank you for this day:
for life
and one more day to love,
for opportunity
and one more day to work for justice and peace,

for neighbors
and one more person to love
and by whom be loved,

for your grace
and one more experience of your presence,

for your promise:
to be with us,
to be our God,
and to give salvation.

For these, and all blessings,
we give you thanks, eternal, loving God,
through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

–By Vienna Cobb Anderson

 

On November 1, 2015, All Saint’s Day, we gathered with friends from every era of our life as a family and stood with our feet on the earth to dedicated and bless our home, our land, our life together.

No amount of pictures or words can capture what this day meant to me. It will forever be one of the most sacred and holy moments of my life, and I am so very, very, grateful for each person who joined as we broke bread, spilled wine, and sang our song of thanksgiving, praising God from whom all blessings flow.

Amen and Selah.