Several folks have told me about a family tradition of sitting down for their Thanksgiving Feast and having everyone at the table tell one thing for which they are thankful.  It may take a little bit of time, but it sounds like a pretty good practice.

Psalm 107 chronicles another such thankful practice.  In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the psalm comes with this heading: Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Many Troubles.  Let’s read its words, in our day and time, as a thankful practice:

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever.
² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
³ and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.^[a]

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;
⁵ hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
⁶ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress;
⁷ he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.
⁸ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
⁹ For he satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills with good things.

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in misery and in irons,
¹¹ for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
¹² Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor;
they fell down, with no one to help.
¹³ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
¹⁴ he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
and broke their bonds asunder.
¹⁵ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
¹⁶ For he shatters the doors of bronze,
and cuts in two the bars of iron.

¹⁷ Some were sick^[b] through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities endured affliction;
¹⁸ they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
²⁰ he sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from destruction.
²¹ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
²² And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.

²³ Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty waters;
²⁴ they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
²⁵ For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
²⁶ They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their calamity;
²⁷ they reeled and staggered like drunkards,
and were at their wits’ end.
²⁸ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out from their distress;
²⁹ he made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
³⁰ Then they were glad because they had quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
³¹ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
³² Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

³³ He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
³⁴ a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
³⁵ He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
³⁶ And there he lets the hungry live,
and they establish a town to live in;
³⁷ they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
and get a fruitful yield.
³⁸ By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their cattle decrease.

³⁹ When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
⁴⁰ he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
⁴¹ but he raises up the needy out of distress,
and makes their families like flocks.
⁴² The upright see it and are glad;
and all wickedness stops its mouth.
⁴³ Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

Prayer

Thank You, God, for your steadfast love.  Amen.