November 2025 WATERritual: Give Thanks for What We Have Received - WATER - Womens Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual

November 2025 WATERritual:

“Give Thanks for What We Have Received”

with Diann Neu and the WATER Community

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83285953460

Preparation: Have an apple nearby.

Welcome and Call to Gather
Welcome to our Thanksgiving liturgy. This is the season of gratitude which offers us an opportunity to say thank you for so many blessings despite these desperate times. This is the time to remember ancestors. This is the time to give thanks for all good blessings. We gather to “Give Thanks for What We Have Received.”

We will return thanks to rivers and streams, to moon and stars, to all of nature. We will express gratitude for the wise ones in our lives, take time to thank them for their wisdom and courage, and seek their counsel for the years ahead.

Centering Prayer
Let us center ourselves by breathing together to release the negative energy of these times that manifests in our bodies and minds and keeps us from being thankful.

Breathe in gratitude, Breathe out anxiety.
Breathe in gratitude, Breathe out tension.
Breathe in gratitude, Breathe out any stress or burdens.
Breathe in gratitude, Breathe out grief.

Divine Gratitude, Wisdom Sophia, we remember today the wise ones in our lives who throughout the ages have used their wisdom and gifts to transform the world. We call upon these ancestors to help us discover within ourselves your wisdom and the ways we can use it to bring about desperately needed peace with justice and gratitude. Be with us on this journey. Amen. Blessed be. May it be so.

Video: “A Moving Story about Gratitude” by Meir Kay

Reading: Polingaysi Qoyawayma, Hopi educator, writer, and potter reminds us in No Turning Back: A Hopi Indian Woman’s Struggle to Live in Two Worlds: “I grind with gratitude for the richness of our harvest, not with cross feelings of working too hard. As I kneel at my grinding stone, I bow my head in prayer, thanking the great forces for provision. I have received much. I am willing to give much in return, for as I have taught you, there must always be a giving back for what one receives.”

Litany of the Ancestors
Today, we honor and give thanks for wise ancestors.
We return thanks to rivers and trees, to moon and stars, to birds and animals, to herbs and fruits, to all of nature.
Thank you for your life-giving Wisdom.
In gratitude, let us remember women who imagined they could make a difference in the world—and did. Our response to each name is:
Thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Kwan Yin, a Buddhist Bodhisattva from China, the Goddess of Compassion, whose name means “She who hears the cries of the world.”
Kwan Yin, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Gaia, the Goddess that embodies Earth itself and all that live and breathe.
Gaia, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, for answering the call of Sophia Wisdom and putting their faith in a covenant with the Holy One.
Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Mary, a Galilean Jew and mother, for listening, pondering, and knowing that she had been chosen to give birth to Jesus, a powerful liberator.
Mary, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Mary Magdalene, the apostle to the apostles and the foundation of Women-Church, for sharing the first news of Jesus’ resurrection.
Mary Magdalene, thank you for your Wisdom.

Song: “Gratitude” by Sweet Honey in the Rock

Thank you for the blessing that you brought my way.
Your love is all around me each and every day.
Thank you for your goodness. I can feel it in my soul.
The joy you brought into my life is making me whole.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh…..
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Litany of Women of Recorded History
We remember Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the Mexican nun who courageously criticized misogyny and hypocrisy of the patriarchy that led to her condemnation by the bishop of Puebla.
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Sojourner Truth, for her defiant declaration of “Ain’t I A Woman” as she advocated for freedom by fighting for abolition and women’s rights.
Sojourner Truth, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks, the Sisters of Selma, Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, Fannie Lou Hammer, Gloria Richardson Dandridge, and the brave women who sparked the Civil Rights Movement, for refusing segregation.
Women of the Civil Rights Movement, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Rachel Carson, for being an ecologist whose book Silent Spring advanced the global environmental movement.
Rachel Carson, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Thea Bowman, FSPA, for being a trailblazing African-American Sister, the first black Sister in her white congregation who encouraged people to stand up for their rights, especially toward racial justice.
Thea Bowman, thank you for your Wisdom.

Song: “Gratitude” by Sweet Honey in the Rock

Litany of Contemporary Women
We remember Dolores Huerta, for founding the United Farm Workers and continuing to work tirelessly to support immigrants and health-care reform.
Dolores Huerta, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember Malala Yousafzai, for defying the Taliban in Pakistan and demanding that girls be allowed to receive an education.
Malala Yousafzai, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember women in the arts: Alice Walker, Oprah Winfrey, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelo, and women musicians: Joan Baez, Aretha Franklin, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Holly Near.
Women in the arts, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember women in ministry, feminist theologians, scholars and journalists, women prophets, and all women who speak out against oppression in all of its forms, especially Rosemary Radford Ruether, Katie Geneva Cannon, and Rosemary Ganley.
Women in ministry, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember women in politics, especially Rosalynn Carter (who very recently passed away), Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Shirley Chisholm, Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
Women in politics, thank you for your Wisdom.
We remember our mothers, grandmothers, ancestors, all women who have been our guides and whose powerful lives have shaped ours,
Our ancestors, thank you for your Wisdom.

Song: “Gratitude” by Sweet Honey in the Rock

Reflection / Sharing
Who are the wise ones who have inspired you? What have you received from them that you are thankful for?

Blessing Apples
We bless apples to taste and see the wisdom of our ancestors. Hold your apple and let us bless them together.
Blessed are You, Wisdom of the Harvest, for giving us these apples that are symbols of the sweetness of nature and of women’s wisdom. We remember Eve, who reached for knowledge, took a bite of the apple, and found that it was good. She was a wise woman! Take a bite of the apple and give thanks.

Blessing One Another Song: “Berakah, the Blessing” by Jan Novotka

From the Source of everything, from the Ground of Being,
receive strength and light, receive peace, receive love.
From my heart to your heart, from my soul to your soul,
receive strength and light, receive peace, receive love.

Take Action
In this ritual, we have lifted up the blessings of nature and the names of some of the women who have passed on their wisdom and made lives better for countless people. Here are some ways we can continue to learn about and honor this wisdom.

• Visit the National Women’s History Museum.
• Watch nature and Earth documentaries.
• Read the life stories of some of the women we lifted up here.
• Pray for nature and women around the world as they continue to share their wisdom.

Sending Forth
Let us go forth in gratitude
and return thanks
for all that we have received.

Let us go forth in joy
and return thanks
for wise women who are changing the world.

Let us go forth in peace
and return thanks
for one another.

Song: “I Am Grateful” by Karen Drucker

Gratitude before me. Gratitude behind me.
Gratitude to the left of me. Gratitude to the right of me.
Gratitude above me. Gratitude below me.
Gratitude within me. Gratitude all around me.
I’m so grateful, I’m so grateful, I’m so grateful, I’m so grateful. (repeat)

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