A Secular Invocation
I know the norm is to ask you to bow your head in reverence to whomever or whatever you pray to or believe in, and you are certainly welcome to do that if you prefer, but I’d actually like you to open your eyes instead.
Be in this moment with me.
We are surrounded by people with enormous talent, kindness, empathy and impact, and we have come to attain these things by some combination of natural ability, hard work, positive influences, a reasonably good education and even some luck. Our lives might be drastically different if even one of those things went just a little differently.
So, to begin, let’s take a moment to be grateful for the simple fact that we are here, and that we are fortunate or lucky or special enough to be among people we respect and admire. Let’s take a moment today to express gratitude, whether it’s to a god or a parent or a spouse or the person sitting next to you, for the opportunities we have been given and the mistakes for which we have been forgiven. Let’s be grateful, whether for a greater plan or for a random sequence of events, that has led us to spend this time together. However you got here, we are all glad you are here, and we are grateful for you.
Thank you.
Let’s take a moment to be grateful for the food that’s before us and the significant undertaking to even get it here. Let’s be thankful to all the humans who put their time, hands and skills into caring for the plants, animals and land that produced this meal, to every human who helped get it from where it was to where it is, to every human who prepared this meal and put it on your plate today. Let’s take a moment to be grateful to the people who are standing among us right now, serving us, ensuring we have full plates, hot coffee, cold tea and clean tables.
Thank you.
Let’s be grateful in advance for our speaker, for her time, her honesty, her candor, her story and her grace. She could be anywhere else in the world right now, and she’s chosen to be here. And we, in return, have done the same.
Thank you.
Let’s be grateful that today — at least for a moment — we are safe, we are secure, we are surrounded by friends, we are loved, and we live in a community that welcomes us, regardless of who our parents are, where we went to school, how much money is in our bank account, who we voted for, who we love or to whom we pray. Let’s remember that there are many places — some not far at all from here — where any one of us might not be welcome for any one of those things.
Thank you for being exactly who you are.
And finally, though we are grateful, let’s remember that gratitude is only one part of our responsibility. As we begin our meeting today, remember that our purpose here is to fill our cups — literally and metaphorically — so we might have more to give to others, so we might be able to do more to spread opportunity, and love, and yes, gratitude, out in our world. Whether you take an individual action or a collective effort, whether you make a grand gesture or offer a small kindness, remember that you have a responsibility to do something good with the opportunities you’ve been given. Otherwise, we make nothing of the opportunities we have both earned and been lucky enough to receive.
As my grandmother used to say, and as I always say now, in remembrance of her: Savor this moment. Whatever comes next, it won’t be this.
Thank you.
