Suggested Hymns:
Prayer of Thanksgiving (Hymns 93)
Now Thank We All Our God (Hymns 95)
Count Your Blessings (Hymns 241)

Note:
This suggested outline for a 5-10 minute devotional would be especially appropriate as your family is gathered at the table, just before you begin your Thanksgiving meal.

Read:
D&C 52:40

Discuss:
On Thanksgiving, we remember our blessings. The scriptures also ask us to "remember in all things" the poor and afflicted. Where in our world are people suffering?

Read:
"Each person alive today has an amazing opportunity to shape the future of this planet by contributing love, goodwill, and service. Each kindly deed, each loving thought creates a small reality of goodness that becomes a pinpoint of light in the blackness of the despair and violence that seem to be smothering our society." (Chieko N. Okazaki, Disciples [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998], 206.)

Discuss:
We've mentioned things that are wrong with the world--ways in which people are suffering. During this past year, what's gone right with the world? How have people worked to make things better?

Activity:
Place a single lit candle in the middle of the table. Give each family member an unlit candle. Dim the lights. Go around the table one at a time, inviting each person to name some good deed or sign of positive change in the world for which they are grateful. After each person speaks, have them light their candle from the lit candle in the middle of the table.

Once each family member is holding a lit candle, suggest that the middle candle could symbolize the light of Christ, which we share with others through our efforts to help people in need and to make the world a better place. Then blow out the candles and bless the food.

Additional Resources:
Click on the thumbnails to see electronic greeting cards based on the quotation from Chieko Okazaki.