A Mealtime Prayer

Soul Matters Theme for March – Commitment

Prayer practice can be a commitment that we make to ourselves.  One way to start is with a mealtime prayer.  Here is a sample from Kate Braestrup’s  Beginner’s Grace: Bringing Prayer into Your Life. (2010)

We are thankful for the food

And for the hands that prepared it

And for our family and our friends

Amen

“I can’t pretend to be unconditionally in favor of the practice of prayer.  No, I’ve got plenty of conditions.  I’ll pray only as long as prayer helps me to be more present, more aware and attentive, and as long as prayer helps me to see the suffering of others. As long as prayer reminds me to deploy both my resources and my generosity, I’ll pray, and I will keep praying so long as prayer serves as a uniquely potent means of giving and receiving love.”

Kate Braestrup (http://www.katebraestrup.com/) is a Unitarian Universalist community minister who is a chaplain to the Maine Warden Service. She is the author of a novel Onion, and multiple non-fiction books including bestselling memoir; Here if You Need Me. In addition, she is a popular public speaker around the country and abroad, entertaining and educating interested audiences with her characteristic honesty, good humor and poignancy.