Praying Grace

The ancient practice of thanking God for providing a meal seems to have evolved into thanking him for lots of other things as well. I recall with some nostalgia my mother’s family’s standard “grace”: “For all we are about to receive, dear Lord, make us truly thankful.” I remember my late wife’s family grace, which expands the horizon: “We thank thee, Father, wise and good, for home and friends and daily food. Bless to our use this food we take, and keep us all for Jesus’s sake.” I also learned early in life this one, which includes other people [although it doesn’t tell us what to do about them]: “Give us grateful hearts, O Lord, for all thy mercies and blessings, and make us mindful of the needs of others.” The list could go on.
When I give the blessing, I usually just let flow what’s in my heart at the time. I like to include all those at table with us, thanking him for whatever gathering is present. It doesn’t seem to be the time to intercede for all who need his special touch—unless there’s a particularly pressing need. Thanks for the meal and its preparers are in order. I always feel grateful for his incomprehensible love for us, and let that be known. And a Halleluia [“praise to you, Lord” usually precedes the “Amen [“I believe” in you.] Then it’s time to fill up!
PS: The incredible gift of his love for each of us, and the unlikely way He turned up in Bethlehem a couple of millennia ago, are always appropriate objects for gratitude, Christmas season or not.