Readers offer their favorite ways to give thanks.

Byline: KIMBER WILLIAMS The Register-Guard

HANDS CLASPED and heads bowed, we will gather.

But before the delicious pageantry of the Thanksgiving meal begins, many will pause for the power of ritual. Take a breath. Give thanks.

Prayers carved in memory, as familiar and time-worn as family heirlooms. Blessings sung to old-time church tunes. Impromptu recitations of what we're "truly" thankful for and stumbled improvised sentiments.

If mealtime blessings are usually quick, cursory affairs, Thanksgiving dinner seems to demand something more eloquent - words that stand up to the weight of all that is spread before us.

This month, we invited readers to share their favorite family blessings, which we've combined with offerings from "Our Favorite Grace" (Reiman Publications, $12.99) as a sampler of mealtime traditions.

Borrow them with our blessing.

`MY GRANDFATHER believed every meal, no matter how much or how little, was a time for thanksgiving," writes Bill Lawson of Green Bay, Wis., who spends winter months in Eugene.

After almost 70 years, his daily prayer from the ancient Psalms remains in Lawson's memory:

The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord,

And thou givest them their food in due season.

Thou openest they hands and satisfyest the desire of every living thing.

Bless this food and us, in Jesus' name. Amen.

IN THE HOME of Dick and Mary Norris of Winchester Bay, tradition calls for the blessing to be sung before Thanksgiving dinner - a cappella and in harmony. Family and guests join hands around the buffet table and sing this prayer to the tune of "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow."

Be present at our table, Lord

Be here and everywhere adored.

These morsels bless and grant that we

May feast in paradise with thee. Amen.

AS LONG AS Bonnie Hirsch can remember, her father recited a blessing before each meal - an act as important to the meal as sitting down to the dinner table.

"When we were hungry kids, we always preferred his short grace," recalled Hirsch, who grew up in Boise but now lives in Eugene.

She knows it still: Bless this food to our use and our lives to thy service, in Jesus' name. Amen.

But for special occasions, such as Thanksgiving, "We all squirmed and starved as he went through a lot more words than we thought necessary," she said, as his words were knit into a longer format:

Give us grateful hearts, our Father, for all thy blessings, keeping us ever mindful of the needs of others, and be especially close to those who need thee most this day. Amen.

As children grew up and moved away, her father added yet another line in the middle of his mealtime prayer:

Look down in mercy on this family, and bless all who belong to it, present or absent.

Today, her 89-year-old father's memory is fading.

"But he never forgets to say grace," said Hirsch, who has lunch with him every day. "The only time I ever heard him stumble over the words was last winter, the day after Mom died."

GIVEN THE TRAGIC events of this year, Susan Price of Eugene offers a Thanksgiving blessing that acknowledges the suffering of others:

We dig deep to find the thanks in Thanksgiving this year. Thousands of families have senseless empty places at their tables today.

As we share this meal, let us call to mind our new kindred loved ones - firefighters, police officers, grieving families and the decision-makers of our country who desperately seek ways to combat this madness.

We bless them for their sacrifices and bless them for their efforts. We welcome their spirits into our home.

There is thanks in this Thanksgiving. Thanks that we live in a country where there is hope. Hope that we'll be safely together again next year and hope that the wisdom of freedom will be embraced throughout the world.

"OUR 3-YEAR-OLD son Aidan has taught our family a blessing he heard from a friend's family," writes Kathe Shaw-Bassett of Eugene. "Each time we gather at the table for a meal, regardless of who's with us, we join hands and say the following blessing ... Now we are family."

The blessing gives them a sense of the connectedness of the family at the table, Shaw-Bassett said, whether they are relatives or "our family of friends."

"We like the inclusiveness of it and it gives our kids a way to participate in welcoming and connecting the people in their lives," she said.

On a humorous note, Shaw-Bassett said "we are usually encouraged by the kids to put down our forks and join hands to do this blessing at least three or four times in the course of the meal."

THIS PRAYER, passed along by Diane Hunt of Springfield, isn't exactly a longstanding tradition with her family, but a more recent acquisition.

"Remember the TV series, 'Sisters?' I used to work nights and would tape it at home. That's where I got this prayer, off the show," she said.

Hunt ran the tape over and over to copy the words. "I just loved it and my family likes it, too. We don't know it by heart yet, but we will."

For the blessings you have bestowed upon this family;

For all the days we've had together and all the days to come;

For the joys and sorrows that bind us even closer;

For the trials we have overcome and for teaching us

we can do no great things - only small things with great love -

we thank you.

THIRTY YEARS AGO, Marjory Smith of Eugene penned this Thanksgiving blessing for her family. They've returned to it every year since then.

"It's a simple blessing people of all religions can be comfortable with," she explains.

Let us pause before dinner on this Thanksgiving Day

To be grateful for all that has come our way.

For the bounty of home and surrounding lands,

For the love of family, neighbors and friends,

For freedom, truth and nobler things,

Those happy moments life sometimes brings;

Amid this bounty of warmth and food,

We truly are thankful for all that is good.

THIS PRAYER, submitted by Susan Lommen of Springfield, seems appropriate for occasions that draw family near:

For daily bread, for all things good

For life and health, for this our food.

For brothers and sisters

For husbands and wives and children

For parents and special grandchildren.

For each good gift they grace imparts

We thank thee Lord, with all our hearts. Amen.

BLESS, OH LORD, these delectable vittles;

May they add to your glory, not to our middles.

- Cora Sue Howe, Rome, N.Y. (From "Our Family's Favorite Grace')

CAPTION(S):

AS YOU blessed the loaves and fishes, bless the food upon our dishes. Like the sugar in our tea, may our lives by stirred by thee. - Wonda Miller, Wenatchee, Wash. (From "Our Family's Favorite Grace')