Katherine Paterson - Giving Thanks: Poems, Prayers, and Praise Songs of Thanksgiving

Lord of the universe: I am a simple man, an ignorant man. Oh, how I wish I had the words to fashion beautiful prayers to praise thee! But alas, I cannot find the words. So, listen to me, O God, as I recite the alphabet. You know what I think and how I feel. Take these letters of the alphabet and you form the words to express the yearning, the love for thee, that is in my heart. P. P.

For Isabel and Hazel,
with all my love P. D. Original text 2013 by Minna Murra, Inc.
Illustrations 2013 by Pamela Dalton. Acknowledgments of permission to reprint previously published materials appear on , which constitutes as an extension of this copyright page. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2963-1
The Library of Congress has cataloged the previous edition as follows:
ISBN 978-1-4521-1339-5 Design by Amelia May Mack.
Calligraphy by Anne Robin.
Photographs by Matthew Carden.
Typeset in Hoefler & Frere-Jones Requiem. Handprint Books is an imprint of
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San Francisco, CA 94107
www.chroniclekids.com

When I was a child, we sang this grace before Sunday morning breakfast: Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you, God, for everything. And I am thankful, three times every day, for good food to eat and a warm home. I am grateful for the beauty of each season, from the brightness of summer to the snows of winter. I am grateful for the many years I have been given to enjoy this good earthfor my loving family, my crazy dog, my church, my friends, and for work I love to do that has given me friends all around the world. I am truly blessed. But my childhood blessing reminds me to be thankful for everythingnot just those occasions when I am happy, but the hard timesthe disappointments, failures, and losses that brought me to a new place where I could grow in wisdom and compassion and, yes, real joy.

This is a book about giving thanksthanks for everything. The prayers on these pages come from many ages and multiple traditions, but I think you will find, as I have, a kinship with these voices and inspiration from the pictures that accompany them. I know words and art will help me consider all the blessings I have been given, remembering the prayer of seventeenth-century poet George Herbert, and making it my own: Thou that hast given so much to me, give one thing morea grateful heart. KATHERINE PATERSON T he other day I peeled an orange and divided it into sections. The aroma seemed to fill the kitchen. The first bite was just as delicious as the smell of it had promised.

But then I got distracted, and the next thing I knew I was looking down at an empty plate. I had eaten the whole orange without realizing it, much less enjoying it or being grateful for it. It made me remember the story of a Japanese friend. She and her family had suffered terribly during World War II. Her children were so hungry that one day she took out her wedding kimono and traded it for two tomatoes. In my family we have plenty to eat, and we try always to be thankful for that abundance.

It is our habit at every meal to hold hands around the table as my husband, John, leads the prayer, beginning with the words O Lord, bless this food and the hands that prepared it. Since those hands are most often mine, I like that, but I know that it is not just my hands that brought this food to the table. There are the farmers, like my friends, the Paquins; the grocer, like my friend, Jim Taylor; and many more whose names and contributions Ill never knownot to mention the sun, the rain, the good earth, and the plants and animals whose lives nourish my life. If I think of everything and everyone who helped bring a meal to my table, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. But that is good. K. P. P.

TO BE SAID WHILE HOLDING HANDS: May the love that is in my heart pass from my hand to yours. TRADITIONAL AMERICAN GRACE O you who believe! Eat of the good things that we have provided for you, and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed He whom you worship. ISLAMIC PRAYER When eating bamboo shoots, remember the man who planted them. CHINESE PROVERB Mother Earth, you who give us food, whose children we are and on whom we depend, please make this produce you give us flourish and make our children and our animals grow.... Our parents tell us, Children, the earth is the mother of man, because she gives him food. 1959) 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. 1959) 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.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON (18031882), THANKSGIVING Earth who gives to us this food, Sun who makes it ripe and good, Dearest Earth and Dearest Sun. Well not forget what you have done. CHRISTIAN MORGENSTERN (18711914), THE WALDORF VERSE Now that I am about to eat, O Great Spirit, Give my thanks to the beasts and birds Whom you have provided for my hunger; And pray deliver my sorrow That living things must make a sacrifice For my comfort and well-being. Let the feather of corn spring up in its time And let it not wither but make full grains For the fires of our cooking pots, Now that I am about to eat. NATIVE AMERICAN GRACE Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it; But we hae meat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thank it. ROBERT BURNS (17591796), THE SELKIRK GRACE So I may raise corn, So I may raise beans, So I may raise wheat, So I may raise squash, So that with all good fortune