Confession on Thanksgiving

We confess that we sometimes forget how to say thank you;
         we get used to saying, “I earned this,”
          thinking we have only ourselves to thank. 
We confess that we are sometimes too jealous to be thankful;
          we compare ourselves to others who have more, “Why do they get everything?”
          and we rarely compare ourselves to those who have less.
We confess that we are sometimes too busy to be thankful;
          we asked ourselves this morning, “Do I have time to go to church?”
          and even in worship we are thinking about our to-do lists.
 We confess that we are sometimes grudgingly thankful;
          saying, “I guess this will have to do,”
          while believing that God has given us a raw deal.
We confess that sometimes we are too tired to be thankful,
          as we sigh, “I just want to get through this day,”
          having no energy to open our eyes to the blessings around us.
We confess that sometimes we are not thankful enough to be generous;
          we bargain with God, “I’ll be unselfish when you give me more,”
          rather than being generous today.
We confess that sometimes we are barely thankful;
          we say the words, but don’t feel grateful in our hearts,
            knowing “I don’t know how to be really thankful.”
And so today we pray a simple prayer.
For what we have received, Lord,
make us truly thankful. 
We want to be filled today with thanksgiving. Amen.