Last year I posted this great Thanksgiving family tradition that we have.

This year, due to the upheaval and turmoil so many of our friends and family are facing, we are adding a list of things we are each grateful for as well, to these individual graces.

Several years ago I came across these Thanksgiving blessings and graces from different religions and different cultures. I'm not sure who to thank- either Martha Stewart or my daughter's preschool teacher.

Each year I print these out and have my daughter Kristen cut the graces into strips.  When we sit down at the table we either pass around a bowl and each person takes a strip or sometimes my daughter will place a blessing at each plate.  We then each take a turn reading the grace we have received.

Below are the blessings we have been using.  Since we usually have 14 to 17 people at the table I supplement the graces below with a few of our more traditional graces.

Wishing all my Active Rain family a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Cowboy Grace:

"Bless this food and us that eats it."

Scottish Grace:

"Praise to God who giveth meat, Convenient unto all that eat.

Praise for tea and buttered toast,

Father, Son and Holy Ghost."

Anonymous:

"Rub a Dub-dub,

Thanks for the grub,

Yea God"

Chinese Proverb:

"When eating bamboo shoots, remember the man who planted them."

From Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends."

From Zohar, The Hebrew Book of Splendor:

"Consider your table as a table before the Lord: Chew well and hurry not."

Aesop:

"A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety."

Ancient Tibetan blessing:

"May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be well.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

May you be happy."

Anonymous:

"Bless all the fruits and vegetables that grace our planet.

Especially the kumquat, rutabaga and pomegranate."

Anonymous Grace:

"Heavenly Father, bless us and keep us alive,

There's ten of us for dinner

And not enough for five"

Camp Johnsonburg Grace

God is good,

God is great,

God, he gave us chocolate cake.

He's a righteous dude,

He gave us food.

Rub-a-dub dub,

three men in a tub,

Thank you God, for this great grub!!

Amen, Amen, Amen.

 Data: Courtesy of Garden State MLS, data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.

Lisa Ryan, Your Princeton and Montgomery Real Estate Specialist

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by The Activerain Network and it's members and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Lisa Ryan and Prudential NJ Properties.  Lisa Ryan and Prudential NJ Properties are not responsible for the accuracy or content provided by The Community.

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Lisa Ryan, REALTOR®

138 Nassau Street, Princeton NJ 08542

908.420.5706 (C)      609.430.1288 ext.554 (O)

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