saying grace

Saying grace, a common practice in Christian households, (I've been informed this is potentially an Americanism, but the travel budget for this piece was limited and I didn't get a chance to do a full global survey, so please excuse my bias.) involves offering up a (usually) short prayer to God before the start of a meal. Heck, it could be a common practice in non-Christian households as well, but that's outside my realm of experience.

This is usually done before the evening meal (call it what you want: dinner, supper, meal #3, whatever) though can be done at other meals as well. Usually only done in the setting of a home, though some, especially my father, have a predilection towards saying grace at restaurants as well. Whether this is done out of devotion to God or just to embarrass the children is unknown, though signs point to the former.

Serves two purposes:

• Gives thanks to God for providing food, shelter, clothing, new Lego sets, whathaveyou.
• Gives the food a bit more time to cool.

Variations upon the theme involve the dining participants holding hands during the prayer, or having each person at the table adding their own contribution to the prayer. Usually it is done simply with hands folded and heads bowed, with the head of the household or another random person at the table solely responsible for the prayer. Families may have a special prayer that they use at all times, or on special occasions. Adult prayers tend to be somewhat long winded and serious while those given by children tend to be short and simple, with occasional humorous undertones.

In my youth I always wanted to get through saying grace as quickly as possible as I saw it as an unnecessary hurdle to eating. So, I had my own specialized prayer that was simple, to the point and fast:

Dear God,
Thank you for this food.
Amen

This generally came out as all one word and accompanied by moving a bite of food towards my mouth:

DearGodthankyouforthisfoodAmen*BITE*

As my exgirlfriend was decidedly anti-religion and I'm quite the lazy agnostic these days, we didn't say grace before meals. However, sometimes when I'm feeling saucy, I have been known, on occasion, to say grace, not to God, but to whomever prepared the meal.

Dear Meal Preparation Type Person (or sometimes just Dear Me), thank you for this wonderful tasty-delish food. Amen!

Note: God doesn't always speak in 16th century English, and he doesn't mind if you're not a poet, either. "Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub" is fine if meant from the heart, whereas some lengthy delivery in Latin is insulting to him if you are just reciting it for pomp and tradition.

Note 2: grub is UK English slang for food, in case you are wondering why I'm eating insect larvae.

The traditional concept of praying over a meal finds its roots in the pagan past and is carried on still in many forms of Christianity and Judaism. As I went to two different Church of England primary schools, saying grace before a meal was common practice. Usually this consisted of a sincere 'For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen.', but occasionally some bright spark in the school's administration decided that saying grace should be more entertaining for the children, presumably in order to emphasise its meaning. This led to a lunchtime chorus of several hundred schoolchildren singing 'Tha-a-ank You, Lord, for food to eat...'. Usually, though, saying grace was simply a routine (and often condensed at family meals to a single muttered word, 'Grace') done without thought for the words at all. As with many such left-over religious traditions, the practice of saying grace has since died out in my family.

Nevertheless, the wording and concepts contained in this widespread and ancient practice intrigue me still. I was given a book entitled 'First Graces' when I was very young, which gave examples of mealtime prayers as well as those for other occasions. The wording of these prayers differs slightly through time or geographical location, but the meaning is constant. A selection:

For these and all his mercies, God's holy Name be blessed and praised; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord, bless this food to our bodies and our bodies to your service. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Bless us, O Lord, for these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

Some graces are more poetic than others, some more direct. I leave you with one I have found (probably mistakenly) attributed to Oliver Cromwell:

Some have hunger, but no meat;
Some have meat, but no hunger;
I have both.
God be praised!