Every fourth Thursday in November, when we sit down as families and friends to enjoy a meal and to give thanks, it is natural for us to acknowledge the divine aspects of our lives and just before we have our special meal, to say a prayer.

In the early autumn of 1621, fifty-three Pilgrims who survived the previous, terrible winter in Plymouth, Massachusetts gathered to give thanks for the harvest. According to the writings of one of the members of the original Mayflower party, one Edward Winslow wrote in Olde English;

"...many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others. And although it be not always so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie."

Although this may not qualify entirely as a formal prayer, the meaning is understood and the tradition has followed us ever since.

The Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism more commonly known as "Buddha" said, "Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."

American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson offered this prayer, "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."

If you are the impatient sort, but still want to be proper, for the pilgrim in you, there is this old cowboy prayer that could have been a line in a John Wayne movie, "Bless this food, and us that eats it."

My pal Tony sent me this lovely Italian blessing which goes, "Benedici Signore noi e il cibo che stiamo per prendere, f