Holiness in our midst – Session 10
SESSION X: TABLE GRACES
What are your family’s beloved table graces? Why?
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything! Amen.
This was our family’s table grace for my first 11 years. I was rather fond of it; it was a nice continuity as we blended families. But one morning our stepmother Evelyn issued an ultimatum: that we each find a less-childish way to bless our family food. I discovered the table grace that I’ve used through the years in the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship:
Father in Heaven, Sustain our bodies with this food, our hearts with true friendship, and our souls with Thy truth. Amen.
My current one is from an Amish novel, Seek Me with All Your Heart (Thomas Nelson, 2010), by Beth Wiseman. Emily, a young Amish woman, is at the home of Martha, a new friend who is not Amish. Martha is waiting for Emily to pray out loud.
“We pray silently before and after a meal,” Emily said.
Martha said, “For the sake of us who don’t have a direct connection to God, maybe you could say a little something out loud, instead of making me guess.”
Emily’s prayer has become my new table grace because it’s so all-inclusive:
“Dear Lord, Bless this food before us, bless the days ahead of us, and bless all who cross in front of us or behind us, as we all make our way to You. Amen.”
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STORY CIRCLE QUESTION: What is your favorite table grace? Why? Or: What was your family’s table grace growing up?
FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:
- Read the above reflection out loud.
- Write a journal reflection on your family?s table graces.
- Are they your own? If you do spontaneous prayer, what would it look like written down?
- Try your hand at writing an original table grace.
FOR GROUP STUDY:
- Read aloud Session X.
- Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Question.