It is with glad hearts that we come to you, our God, to celebrate the work of the Binghamton University Forum. We come to you on this June evening to give thanks for the end of yet another program year where the community and university have collaborated to inform and inspire people.
We thank you for giving us the responsibility to be leaders. We thank you for how Binghamton University has grown into a world-renown institution and an incubator for new ideas and initiatives. Thank you for this gift to our community, give us courage to implement what we learn to benefit the lives of everyone who lives in our community.
Tonight we ask you for wisdom and foresight for the awesome privilege to steward the beautiful environment where we live. We thank you for the trees and wild creatures that grace our land and we ask that you would continue to help us to be careful members of your world. We know that we only hold these things for a while and that we must pass them on to our children and grandchildren. Help us to treat each other and our world with the kindness and the consideration we deserve.
We also give you thanks for the ability to serve the poor, the hungry, the lonely, the sick, and those who need some help to get by. We are thankful to see how someone in our own life reached out to us in our time of need and was a presence of goodness and grace in the midst of life’s difficulties. Help us to be that kind of presence in the lives of others. Help us to be kind, considerate, and above all loving people who care for each other with generous hearts.
Thank you for the goodness that we have experienced from you. Thank you for this food that is in front of us and for the gift of friendship around these tables. Thank you for the gift of joy and it is with glad hearts we say, “Amen.”
