grace: n. a short prayer before a meal

Thank you for this food. Bless it to the nourishment of our bodies. And bless the hands that prepared it. Amen.

I eat breakfast every morning, unless I have a lunch date and want to save my appetite.

Today’s breakfast took on a different tone. Not because of my food choices, but due to two visitors–the memory of my earthly father and the touch of my Heavenly Father.

Before every meal, even if we dined out, Dad “said grace.” The simple prayer, uttered by a simple man, acknowledged and thanked God for providing the food we were about to eat.

Dad spent his early years in West Texas. His family left and came to Oregon after a severe drought. Its lush Willamette Valley was a Garden of Eden to him. He knew what it was like to be hungry.

I must admit I have neglected, and even discarded, that habit of my formative years. Typically, I guzzle down my food, giving no thought to anything other than my stomach. This morning, as I sat down to eat my egg and sourdough waffles, the prayer of my father passed through my mind. I actually heard it. That’s when spiritual truth entered in.

I was raised in a family that sat down together for meals. Mom was an amazing cook, creating goodness from her pantry filled with home-canned fruits, vegetables, and pickles, or the “fresh-from-the garden” crops. Dad raised a beef every year for our meat supply. Sometimes he raised chickens or a pig too. To say I ate well is a major understatement. I grew up on delicious home-grown organic food. To say I didn’t appreciate it or have any comprehension of its value in my youth is another major understatement.

Remembering my father, I humbled myself before God as I repeated the prayer of my childhood and growing-up years. How many thousands of times have I heard it?

Thank you for this food.

When God created our planet, he provided the means of sustenance for us, its inhabitants, to live and to multiply. “And God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”[1]

I grew up with knowledge of producing food—preparing and tilling the soil, planting the seeds, watering the crops, and harvesting them. Many people today do not have that background. We lived half a mile from the Santiam River. Dad’s garden space was like a delta, replenished by the manure from his dairy cows. In this era of fast food, where satisfying an appetite immediately reigns supreme, a large portion of the population, especially the next generation, have no idea where food–actual food–comes from.

In addition, an effort has come to the forefront for the production of artificial food for human consumption. What a farce! God alone provides our food source and source of life, both spiritually and physically.

Bless it to the nourishment of our bodies..

I never realized until this morning that, as a personal request, Dad asked God to bless our food. That’s no small thing. Our bodies need food in order to function and to survive. During Christ’s ministry, a young boy offered a few fish and some bread when there was none. Christ blessed his offering. The small amount of food multiplied, providing meals for thousands of people who had come to listen to Him preach.

I asked for that same blessing today.

And bless the hands that prepared it.

Dad’s prayer acknowledged my mother and the hours she spent on food preparation. What would our lives have been like without her?! She fed us all so well. Perhaps I can ask that same blessing for myself.

And so, I started my day as I always do . . . with a simple breakfast meal. But I have been given a spiritual lesson I won’t forget, one based on my Father’s simple act of “saying grace” before our meals.

What does it mean to ask God to bless my food before I eat it? What does it mean to ask Him to bless it in a way that my body will be nourished?

I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

Thank you, God, for the food you give me. Bless it to the nourishment of my body. And thank you for my father, who instilled these principles in me and my mother, who tirelessly and without fail fed her family with love and excellence. I am blessed. 

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[1] Genesis 1:28, 29 NRSVUE