Bless This Meal: Saying Grace and Giving Thanks

When life takes over and our days become a blur, it is so easy to become disconnected. Many bodies living separate lives under one roof. In these moments, the powerful connection of sharing food, nourishing our bodies, and togetherness is lost to fast food, fend-for-yourself meals, and TV dinners.

When I feel disconnected from my children and my home, re-embracing family meals is a simple, instant healer. Planning and preparing meals together, gathered together at the table, we are given the opportunity to reconnect, laugh, talk, linger. It is a time to learn. A time to grow. To nourish not only our bodies and minds, but our hearts and spirits.

As I contemplate enriching our mealtimes and giving them a place of honor and connection in our days, my goal is to imbue a sense of reverence and sacredness to this special time we have to truly be together: to come together as a family, light a candle, hold hands, and give thanks; spiritually and physically nourished, and connected.

When our days are chaotic and rushed, I find a spoken, rhythmic blessing to be calming and centering. On happy, light days, we enjoy singing our blessings. Over the years, and from many sources, we have gathered these:

Thank you for this food, this food
This glorious, glorious food
And the animals, and the vegetables, and the minerals
That make it possible
Bon Appetit! Let us eat!
~
Blessings on the blossoms
Blessings on the roots
Blessings on the leaves and stems
Blessings on the fruit
~
Earth who gives to us this food
Sun who makes it ripe and good
Dear Sun, dear Earth, by you we live
Many thanks to you we give
~
The silver rain, the shining sun
The fields where scarlet poppies run
And all the ripples of the wheat
Are in the bread that I do eat
So when I sit for every meal
And say a grace, I always feel
That I am eating rain and sun
And the fields where scarlet poppies run
~
Oh, the Earth is good to me
And so I thank the Earth
For giving me the things I need
The Sun and the Rain and the Appleseed
The Earth is good to me.
~
Thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the children sweet.
Thank you for the clothes we wear.
Thank you for the nice, fresh air.
~
We are thankful for this food
For rest and home and all that's good
For air and rain and sun above
And most of all for those we love