Chances are many of you will have somebody new around your Thanksgiving table this year. We call her Alexa. Last Christmas millions of those Echo-dot, voice-controlled, smart speakers were stuffed into people’s stockings. I got one too. Yesterday I asked my Alexa what she is thankful for. She has a variety of responses.

Alexa can give you recipes for your Thanksgiving dinner, set timers for you while you cook, update you on the football score, connect you to the Butterball Turkey hotline, tell you a Thanksgiving joke, play Thanksgiving music, and even flip a coin for you in case you can’t decide whether to have the pumpkin pie or the apple pie for dessert.

You can also set one of Alexa’s skills so that she can pray the blessing over the food. I recommend however that you choose somebody other than Alexa to do that. The Thanksgiving prayer should be something heartfelt and real. It’s something privileged. Like carving the turkey, it may seem intimidating but it’s an honor to do it. Alexa’s new. God has always been there. See what God can do for you this Thanksgiving. Offer a nice our-family-to-our-Heavenly-Father prayer as the heart of your meal.