Thanksgiving Prayers of the People

This prayer was offered at last night's Interfaith Thanksgiving service hosted at First UMC, Omaha:

Some of us look like the native people who lived here long ago, so close to this land that their arrival is not recorded.
With them we are pilgrims in this land.
Some of us look like the Spanish, who came in big ships.  They took the land from the natives and thought it was theirs.
With them we are pilgrims in this land.
Some of us look like the English, who also came in big ships and took the land from the natives and the Spanish, and thought it was theirs.
With them we are pilgrims in this land.
Some of us look like the Africans, who also came in big ships.  They did not choose to come, they were stolen from their land and had no freedom here.
With them we are pilgrims in this land.
Some of us look like Asians, South Americans, Middle-Easterners -- people from around the world who come across the oceans seeking refuge and sanctuary.  They have come fleeing famine, hardship, ethnic and political persecution, and war.
With them we are pilgrims in this land.
We grieve the wrongs inflicted on each other and pray your spirit of reconciliation and healing be present as we learn how to live together.  Help us to show compassion and work for justice.  Together with pilgrims past and pilgrims yet to come, we thank you, for who we are, and for what we are yet to become.  
Amen.

The prayer is based in part on a Thanksgiving litany by Justo & Catherine Gonzalez, "In Accord: Let Us Worship." New York: Friendship Press, 1981, page 30.