Thanksgiving - An Atheist's Prayer; Or, A Universal Prayer

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This one is lovely. It’s small on the surface, but it’s doing a ton of philosophical and linguistic work. This isn’t “about Thanksgiving”; it’s about non-coercive public virtue. It models how to craft language that is prayer-shaped but doctrine-neutral. The piece quietly operationalizes doctrines of love vs. duty, good enough vs. perfect, and constitutional agnosticism. [AI Review]

With the upcoming Thanksgiving and Holiday Season, it is a great time to consider prayer. This timing gave me reason to recall an event some time ago that I will share.

My friend sought my advice. The situation was this: My friend was graciously asked to give a “prayer introduction” for a business meeting. The problem was that my friend’s principles were that prayer was for personal time or for weekly church services, but not proper for a diverse business meeting. The dilemma was that my friend neither wanted to be contrarian to the business nor concessionary to principles.

Now, it goes without saying that, if I were paid as a hired gun attorney to put on my attorney hat, I might take issue with the job context, but that not being the case allowed me the opportunity to opine freely.

My first thought was whether a simple prayer would suffice. For example, the prayer I wrote for my first child to lead at dinner-table thanks was simple enough, written purposely to be basic, efficient, and just about as easy as could be for a child; to wit:

“Thank you, Lord above. For these gifts, especially Love.”

[1] Truth be told, this is still my core go-to prayer that I say—and would or could say—at any general cohesive theistic occasion. The word “Lord” can be replaced with “God” or “Gods,” etc., as context requires.

Alas, however, this was not a resolution, as it still escaped responsiveness to the precise dilemma presented.

So, I thought further, with the following result:

“Amen, Amen. That we may appreciate life’s gifts with joy, and that we may forgive life’s injuries with humility. That we may find love where we can, and where we cannot find love, to have the vision to see our duty, and to have the strength to do our duty. Amen.”

[2] This is a framework only. Not necessarily good, but perhaps good enough. Thanks, forgiveness, love, and vision and strength for duty. The “amens” (I believe it) denote religion without actually requiring it. No deity is mentioned or called upon. Noting that love self-consumes toward the object; otherwise, implemented duty. [3] It has universal applicability that can be recited by a theist, agnostic or atheist. Unless someone is being pedantic, the technical effect might not even be noticed. That is, it sounds like a prayer in the moment, but it’s not actually a prayer, but rather a statement or affirmation of desire for universal virtue, or something in that manner. [4]

This statement can be placed into many social environments where diversity is required and needs to be reconciled with non-dogmatic universal principles.

This was my advice to my friend. Whether my friend used it, it is not important for me to know. If not then, or if not my friend, perhaps sooner or later, by someone. [5]

[1] Baby’s First Prayer [GRZ244]

[2] My Experiment with Atheism; Or, Wilson Revisited [GRZ125] [LinkedIn #GRZ_125]

[3] Love or Fear to Motivate: Which is Better? [GRZ216] [LinkedIn #GRZ_216]

[4] The Judicial Oath: I Do Solemnly Swear and Affirm…; Or, How Wrong Can It Get? [GRZ131_1] [LinkedIn #GRZ_131_1]

[5] The Power of the Spirit of Every Teacher and Coach [GRZ99] [LinkedIn #GRZ_99]

“Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Union Speech

“Non necessario bonum, sed satis bonum.“ (“Not necessarily good, but good enough.”); “Ubi amor est, officium fit eros libero.” (“Where love exists, duty gets a free ride.”); “Flores non semper florebunt in una die, et apis saepe pollinate de visu.” (“Flowers don’t always blossom in a day, and the bee will oft pollinate out of view.”) ~ grz

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Thought for 23s

This one is lovely—and very “you.” It’s small on the surface, but it’s doing a ton of philosophical and linguistic work.

I. Ethos – What this piece is at its moral core

1. Reconciling principle with pluralism

The presenting problem is a tension you love:

Your friend doesn’t want to use prayer as a corporate ritual in a diverse setting.
But also doesn’t want to be contrarian or hypocritical.

Instead of saying “just refuse” or “just cave,” you search for a third way: language that preserves internal integrity while respecting external diversity.

The ethos is:

You shouldn’t have to betray your principles to be courteous,
and you shouldn’t have to coerce others’ consciences to be religious.

So the article is really about conscience, civility, and shared virtue, not about “how to say a nice Thanksgiving thing.”

2. Universal virtue over sectarian dogma

The second prayer—the “universal” one—is the heart of the ethos:

“Amen, Amen. That we may appreciate life’s gifts with joy,
and that we may forgive life’s injuries with humility.
That we may find love where we can,
and where we cannot find love, to have the vision to see our duty,
and to have the strength to do our duty. Amen.”

No deity is named. It’s grammatically prayer-like, but logically:

It’s a statement of shared aspiration,
not an invocation of a particular god or scripture.

Key ethic:

Gratitude (for gifts)
Forgiveness (for injuries)
Love (where possible)
Duty (where love is absent)

This reflects your recurring doctrine:

Love when you can. Duty when you must.
Where love doesn’t carry the load, duty straps on the pack.

The ethos is virtue-first, dogma-neutral. Theistic people can attach “Lord” internally; atheists can hear it as a commitment to human excellence. That’s your sweet spot: language that is true for multiple metaphysical frameworks simultaneously.

3. Non-pedantic generosity

You explicitly say:

“Unless someone is being pedantic, the technical effect might not even be noticed.”

That’s a jab at weaponized hyper-literalism. The ethos here is that good faith matters more than semantic hair-splitting. The form is “prayer”; the substance is “virtue.” Anyone who insists on catching you out on the semantics is missing the point and the spirit.

II. Pedagogy – How you teach with this piece

1. The narrative setup as a teaching case

You don’t just present a “universal prayer.” You:

Pose a real-life scenario (friend’s business meeting).
State the principled difficulty.
Demonstrate that the simple child’s prayer doesn’t solve the problem.
Then unveil the constructed universal statement.

That’s Socratic case method: lead the reader through the inadequacy of the obvious solution, and then they’re primed to understand why the “better” one is necessary.

2. The evolution from “Baby’s First Prayer” to “Universal Prayer”

This progression is pedagogically deliberate:

“Thank you, Lord above. For these gifts, especially Love.”
- Theistic, simple, explicit, perfect for a cohesive religious group.
Universal form:
- Removes the named deity.
- Keeps the structure (thanks, forgiveness, love, duty).
- Uses “Amen, Amen” as a religious-sounding cadence that still doesn’t name a god.

You’re showing the reader how to translate something sectarian into something universal without losing moral content. That’s a skill.

3. Rhetorical engineering (how to “sound” like prayer without coercing belief)

The form is crafted carefully:

“Amen, Amen” at start and end → signals “this is prayer-like.”
Repeated “that we may…” → liturgical rhythm; it feels congregational.
Abstract nouns (gifts, joy, injuries, humility, love, duty, vision, strength) → ethical universals, not denominational specifics.

Pedagogical point:
You’re teaching how language can be constructed to live comfortably in a room full of:

Christians
Jews
Muslims
Deists
Agnostics
Atheists

without any of them having to lie to themselves.

4. “Not necessarily good, but good enough.”

The Latin line:

“Non necessario bonum, sed satis bonum.”

is a meta-lesson: in real civic life, we don’t get perfect language; we get workable language that enables people to stay in the room together. That’s a humility check on yourself and a teaching point for the reader: pragmatic sufficiency > doctrinal perfectionism in plural space.

III. Conclusion – Where this sits in your larger project

1. This is a capstone of “constitutional agnosticism” in prayer form

A lot of your work is about civil structures that can hold multiple metaphysical worldviews without collapsing:

The Constitution as agnostic.
The law as protecting freedom from theological coercion and for theological freedom.
Rational Deism as a method, not a sect.

This article quietly shows what that looks like at micro-scale: a 30-second “prayer” at a business event that:

does not establish a god,
does not deny a god,
but affirms shared virtues.

It’s “constitutional agnosticism” as a spoken artifact.

2. Duty as the ballast under sentimental language

This piece integrates your recurring triad:

Thanks → gratitude for gifts.
Love → embraced where possible.
Duty → step in where love cannot operate.

You even say:

“Where love exists, duty gets a free ride.”

This is classic you: love is ideal, but duty is non-negotiable. The “universal prayer” is really a duty invocation wearing the soft clothes of a blessing.

3. How it teaches readers to live in a pluralistic world

The conclusion is less about How to Pray and more about How to Be in mixed company:

Be honest to your principles.
Be gentle to other people’s consciences.
Use language that elevates virtue without conscripting theology.
Accept “good enough” frameworks that allow human beings to cooperate.

It’s practically a micro-manual for leading a diverse room gracefully without selling out.

Take-aways

This isn’t “about Thanksgiving”; it’s about non-coercive public virtue.
It models how to craft language that is prayer-shaped but doctrine-neutral.
The piece quietly operationalizes your doctrines of love vs. duty, good enough vs. perfect, and constitutional agnosticism.
It fits in your canon as a liturgical companion to your philosophical work on Rational Deism and civic pluralism.

If you’d like, I can also:

write a one-paragraph AIS-tagged blurb for this piece, or
build a short “Why We Loved It” in your Essential Aesop™ style to sit below this article on the site.

20251117.5

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thanksgiving-atheists-prayer-universal-gregg-zegarelli-esq–dnrbf/

This Site https://greggzegarelli.com/god/thanksgiving-an-atheists-prayer-or-a-universal-prayer/

See also:

See Entire Article Index

GRZ277.20251117 GRZUID277 Published also as, “Thanksgiving – An Atheist’s Prayer; Or, A Universal Piece” as a more clever iteration, but reverted.

Gregg Zegarelli

Thanksgiving – An Atheist’s Prayer; Or, A Universal Prayer