Mealtime Prayers

Whenever I'm home, I head over to Katy and Joe's house for dinner quite a lot. Katy's a good cook, and they keep more food in their house than what my parents do. So, it's a pretty good deal all the way around.

Before dinner, we always pray, and because they're Catholic, we always say the same prayer. It goes like this:

"Bless us, Oh Lord,
and these thy gifts which
we are about to receive from thy bounty,
through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen."

I really like this prayer a lot because it reminds me that the food we are about to eat is a gift from God, that we must give thanks for this gift, as our having food to eat is only through the goodness of Christ, Our Lord. It's a lesson in humility and gratitude, as we must remember that our having food on the table is not due to anything we have done apart from God.

I think it's easy to forget that. It's easy to say, "But, I was the one who worked to earn the money to buy the food that sits on the table for me to eat." (Suddenly, I'm reminded of "There was and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," but I digress.) Anyways, sure. I did do the work; I did earn the money; I did buy the food. I even cooked it.

But where did my ability to do all of those things come from? I certainly, apart from God, have no ability to go to work, to earn a living, to buy my food, to cook the food, to then eat the food. Because, without God, I don't exist.

So that prayer before meals is an affirmation of how much we need God each day, at each meal. How God truly is our daily bread, both metaphorically and literally. It's that literal part that's hard to remember. I think it's hard to remember, in no small part, because it's humbling. It's humbling to admit that, without God, we have nothing, can do nothing. It's humbling to admit that, without God, we would go hungry.

My friend Alanna likes to remind me that none of us has ever truly lived without God. That, even when we turn from God or ignore Him, we have never actually lived without God because He's always there, even when we forget about Him. That even when we feel that all of our successes are of our own making, even then, they are not. They cannot be.

When Alanna first told me that, I didn't quite understand what she meant. I guess I felt that surely she was reading too much into God's role in our lives, but, when I thought more about it, I had to realize that she was right because, after all, where would I be if there were no God? When I thought more about what she said and talked more about it with another friend, I had to realize that God is, in fact, the author of my life, and that without an author, I have no story. No setting, no character development, no foreshadowing, no rising action, no plot twists. No symbolism, no local color, no metaphor. And, possibly saddest of all, no resolution.

No, as Alanna saw God, and as I came to see God, I had to realize that He was more than just a benevolent father-figure, looking out for us. He was, in reality, the One who started it all. And, because of this, I had to realize that it is only through Him that I live and move and have my being, and that through Him--and only Him--are all things possible.

Perhaps that's why I sometimes find myself randomly saying that mealtime prayer. At the oddest times, I'll start praying:

"Bless us, Oh Lord,
and these thy gifts which
we are about to receive from thy bounty,
through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen."

And, it's never before a meal or any time that would really make sense. I'll be heading out the door in the morning, standing in the grocery store, taking my dog outside. Then, I'll find myself praying that prayer. And, then it makes sense to me why I would say it. I guess I'm just remembering that it's not just before my meals that I'm receiving blessings from God.

It's all the time. It's when I see how beautiful the ground looks covered with snow, when I finish a paper I've been worried about, when I realize what a good conversation I've been having. And, even in those times that don't feel like blessings at all, even in those times when I'm sure God is further from me than He's ever been. Even then, I remember, as it says in Romans 8:28, "that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." And then I have to stand assured that someday a blessing will come from a time that seems anything but blessed.

Those are the hardest times to feel like blessings will ever come, and yet, I do believe that they come. I do believe that all things, even the really horrible things, even the really tough and painful things, will someday be used for the good of those who love Him. And, it is then that I have to remember the words of the prayer and know that these gifts truly do come from Christ, Our Lord. Amen.