A Table Grace for the Day We Put the Leaf In

Dear Lord, we brought the table leaf From where it waits behind the door; It closed the gap, as You close grief, And now there’s room for someone more.

We thank You for the miles they came, For headlights turning up the lane, For coats heaped high, for every name We waved to through the windowpane.

Bless hands that worked before the sun To baste the bird and crimp the crust, That never measured, not a one, But poured the salt by feel and trust.

We thank You for the frosted field, The pumpkin cut from off the vine, The orchard ladder and its yield, The canning jars that stand in line.

Bless, too, the folding table set Where little cousins kneel on chairs, With paper turkeys, paste still wet, Each traced around a hand of theirs.

And for the dear ones gone before, Lord, keep them close within Your care; Their gravy boat goes round once more, Chipped at the lip, and still they’re there.

Lord, turn our eyes across the street To porches where the light burns low, And send a plate wrapped warm and neat Across the yard through early snow.

Now bless this food, these hands we hold, These windows fogged with kitchen steam, And keep us grateful, young and old, Past pumpkin pie and whipping cream. Let thanks outlast the dishes, then, Through all the year. In Christ, amen.