The Most Beautiful Gratitude Prayer

This piece moves me every year. It was written by Jonathan Sacks, the late great Chief Rabbi of Great Britain. It is timeless and timely, speaking to adults and children, single and married, religious or atheist. Please share if you find it meaningful as well.

“This gift of faith taught me to see the dazzling goodness and grace that surround us if only we open our eyes and minds. As the new year approaches, with the recession still in force, I find myself giving thanks to God for all the things that cost nothing and are worth everything.

I thank Him for the love that has filled our home for so many years. Life is never easy. We’ve had our share of pain. But through it all we discovered the love that brings new life into the world, allowing us to share in the miracle of birth and the joy of seeing our children grow.

I thank Him for the blessing of grandchildren. I don’t know why it is I was so surprised by joy, but in their company my constant thought is that I didn’t know that life could be that good.

I thank Him for the friends who stood by us in tough times, for the mentors who believed in me more than I believed in myself, and for the teachers who encouraged me to think and question, teaching me the difference between truth and mere intellectual fashion.

I thank him for those rare souls who lift us when we are laid low by the sheer envy and malice by which some people poison their lives and the lives of others. I thank Him for the people I meet every day who light up the world with simple gestures of humanity and decency.”

Amen