Dh grew up saying the same Catholic standby that AnnetteMarie references upthread, and it is what I say now. The children sometimes say a French prayer that they learned in school and DD likes to say the grace that I said as a child, "Thank-you for the world so sweet" because she's sentimental that way.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how my grandfather said grace. He was a farmer all his life and most of the meals of his life would have included food that he and my grandmother grew and raised themselves.
He always did long, sonorous prayers when we gathered for meals, all specific to the occasion and the events of the day, and drawing on the bible knowledge gained through his 50 years teaching Sunday School at a baptist church, as well as the poetry he had memorized (Milton and Shakespeare, mostlyl. His graces were short sermons, really. I found his graces tedious when I was a child, but of course, I have a lot of nostalgia for them now.
He always began his graces with the words "Bless this food to the use of our bodies" and I have come to see a lot of wisdom in that beginning. I have been trying to silently pray this intention before eating, lately, and to add these words to our family grace. I am looking for other graces and verses before eating that specifically articulate this idea, from any faith. I wonder if it won't help us to grow healthier if we always eat with this intention.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how my grandfather said grace. He was a farmer all his life and most of the meals of his life would have included food that he and my grandmother grew and raised themselves.
He always did long, sonorous prayers when we gathered for meals, all specific to the occasion and the events of the day, and drawing on the bible knowledge gained through his 50 years teaching Sunday School at a baptist church, as well as the poetry he had memorized (Milton and Shakespeare, mostlyl. His graces were short sermons, really. I found his graces tedious when I was a child, but of course, I have a lot of nostalgia for them now.
He always began his graces with the words "Bless this food to the use of our bodies" and I have come to see a lot of wisdom in that beginning. I have been trying to silently pray this intention before eating, lately, and to add these words to our family grace. I am looking for other graces and verses before eating that specifically articulate this idea, from any faith. I wonder if it won't help us to grow healthier if we always eat with this intention.
