Saying Grace

For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen.

Familiar words, once commonly spoken at the start of every meal in many homes around the world. I suspect the habit of "saying Grace" is falling away. Why, when it is so easy?

Isn't it easy to be "truly thankful" when what you "are about to receive" is delicious and plenty, and around you sit the smiling faces of your loving family? Thank you, God, for this moment, and this meal, and these people.

For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen.

What if "what we are about to receive" is something else? If you are a family of one sitting down to a lonely meal or a large family without food enough to fill every hungry stomach, being truly thankful is no small task. Thank you, God, for this moment, and this meal, and the hope and promise of a new and better day.

What if it isn't a meal at all? Can we be truly thankful even when what we are about to receive is heartbreaking and painful? It is an awful challenge. Thank you, God, for being with me in this moment, for the strength to bear it, for the lessons it holds for me, and for the power to change the world.

Perhaps this simple grace should begin my every day. For what I am about to receive, whatever it is, may the Lord make me truly thankful.

Amen.