“Perpetual Presence, always near to us, may the fire of our gratitude be kindled and our souls flame up towards You.
We thank You for the world of matter under our feet, over our head, and about us on every side.
We thank You for the bread we eat, for the garments we put on, for the houses which hold us, for the sleep which all night slides into our bones, bringing strength to the weary and health to the sick.
We thank You for the vast gifts which You have bestowed upon us, for these bodies so wonderfully made, for the ever-questioning mind which hungers for truth and beauty, for the vision of You held by Your children of every age and every land.
We thank You for great philosophers and prophets and poets who have gathered justice and taught love as well as for the billions of unremembered men and women who in their common callings were faithful to the light which shone upon them, and we rejoice in the heritage which their toil has won and bequeathed to us.
O God, our Father and our Mother, may we know You as You are, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.”
Theodore Parker (1810 – 1860), Unitarian minister and abolitionist
Chorlton Unitarians 