I realize this article may not be for everyone. Not every reader of this paper is religious, or, if religious, attends church. Not every reader, if they attend church, receives The Lord’s Supper every week. Not every reader says grace before they eat. But, having been nurtured in such traditions, I must share with you that when I smell the fragrance of baked bread and the sweetness of grape juice or wine, I’m so thankful to God.
“Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it…” reads the Gospel of Luke. Though Christ may have prayed before all meals, Scripture does not mention it. The Bible does not commend prayers before every meal. It does say in Deuteronomy that Moses encouraged the people, “You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.” An early Church father, Clement of Alexandria, exhorted, “Before taking nourishment it is fitting to praise the Creator of all things, and it is fitting also to sing His praises when we take as nourishment the things created by Him.”
My father, an ordained minister, prayed before each and every meal: breakfast, lunch and supper. Our family of six would hold hands, and more often than not, pray the same grace we had prayed countless times: “We thank thee, Lord, for this our food, for life and love and every good, amen.”
I myself do not pray before every meal. Many meals, or some meals, but not every meal. Not often in public; but often, silently, even if I’m by myself. Not to be flippant, but to remind us of God, I will often say a four-line prayer that rhymes. Such as, “We thank you, Lord, for rice and beans, for all your love and all it means, amen.” I’m not sure if God enjoys that particular kind of prayer, or if it makes him hold his head in his hands, but I am truly thankful to God for all I have and all I eat.
There are all types of prayers before meals. There are profane prayers: “Ruba-dub-dub, thanks for the grub. Amen.”
And there are formal, standardized prayers such as in the Book of Common Prayer: “Bless, O Lord, thy gifts to our use and us to thy service; for Christ's sake. Amen.”
There are much longer prayers during which someone at the table is thinking, “C’mon, the food is getting cold!”
And there are extremely short and silent prayers, such as that when the family is told that Aunt Tess can’t be with us today with her tuna and jelly sandwiches: “Thank God!”
There are also prayers we have in common and which, perhaps, you or your family have prayed: “God is great, and God is good, And we thank him for our food; By his hand we all are fed; Give us, Lord, our daily bread.”
In the film, Shenandoah, Charlie Anderson (Jimmy Stewart) offers this grace: “Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be eating it if we hadn't done it all ourselves. We worked dogbone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you Lord just the same for the food we're about to eat, amen.”
Saying grace can proclaim whether we believe the food is ours, or whether it’s a gift. And if it’s not a gift, there is no Giver. If there is a Giver, every meal may taste a little like bread and wine.
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