A Prayer for the Empty Chair on Thanksgiving
Grieving what is missing and holding hope for what is there
Welcome to whatever today holds, dear one. Happy Thanksgiving from my corner of the world.
I see you wrangling kids that don’t want to keep their clothes looking nice. I know, all you want is one picture.
I see you crying tears in the bathroom.
I see you deeply sighing, ready to begin another day of endless work.
I see you missing family.
I see you ready to use your voice in new ways.
I see you up early preparing a delicious feast.
I see your grief, your bravery, your glimmers of hope.
You are not alone today.
A Prayer for the Empty Chair on Thanksgiving
Oh God, today the world tells me I’m supposed to be grateful.
I am.
I know I am.
But, I am also not.
I look around my table and it is filled with deliciousness and the eyes of people I love.
My table also holds a missing place—
an empty setting,
a cold seat.
This seat, in a perfect world, is supposed to be filled with someone I deeply love—but today it is not.
There is a hole at the table, that reflects the grief in my heart.
God, be near today as laughter may fill my lungs at times, and tears may rise as well.
As I remember with stories,
celebrate with songs,
kiss sticky foreheads,
click on sports,
carve the turkey,
and pass the china—God be near.
Christ be near.
Spirit be near.
I am here, You are here—they are not.
Invite me into more hope today.
Remind me if it doesn’t come, you are kindly holding it for me.
Amen, let it be so today.
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Thank you. For this one and for all the others.