Designating a Pray-er

Preparing for Thanksgiving often means something different for each person. In my world, it involves answering questions like When will y'all be here?, How early do you have to get up to make that drive? and What will y'all bring? (Yes, even though we're driving from Dallas that morning, somewhere in our car will be the non-perishable ingredients for the sweet potato casserole, which we'll put into action in time for the evening meal.)

Then, of course, there's the one question that separates all those people from all that food: Who will say the blessing?

The Rev. Katie Yahns shares her reflections on designated pray-ers over at Fidelia's Sisters, the e-zine of the Young Clergy Women Project.

Does your gathering have a designated pray-er? Might you be it? Thinking ahead can make it possible to avoid the awkward silence, and instead approach the time in a spirit of sincere thanksgiving (rather than the thankful-I'm-not-the-one-praying-out-loud kind of thankfulness).

Comments

[gavin]

sometime ago with the wife's family i was the prayer for the family business Christmas party. since then i am the designated prayer for their family. i am happy to do it. with my own family though i make my dad, he generally says the same thing which my brother and i mimic throughout the rest of our family time. it might not be a faithful response, but it sure is funny.