Give Us This Day...

This morning the holy tap on my shoulder came as I sat down to my breakfast. You know that picture/print of the old man sitting down and praying over a bowl of soup and a partial loaf of bread with his glasses lying on top of a big book I prefer to believe is his Bible?  You’ve know that picture, right? We have ‘couple friends’ that gave us that picture in a nice frame and it is displayed in our home.  

This morning, I sat down to my bowl of breakfast soup and a partial loaf of bread I made last night. I felt the pull of the picture…maybe it was just my imagination but I think it was part of the holy tap…and I looked up to study it once more. I love that print, always have.  If you study the print up close, you’ll see the rough texture of his shirt, the crude bowl and the simple table. His face and hands are detailed, you can imagine the smell of the soup, hear the sound of the crusty bread being cut and feel the humble prayer move the very heart of God.

My quick little dash of a “thanks for the food, Lord” prayer rang hollow in my heart…I wonder if it felt as hollow to God. I didn’t bother to bow my head or fold my hands like the old man in the picture. I don’t know that it is required but something about the taking the time to do the act gives it more reverence than my pitiful excuse of a prayer as I stirred my soup. Then, in what I call “God time”, memories of many meals consumed without prayer and prayers dashed off like the one I uttered this morning flew past my spiritual eyes. I felt conviction for my selfishness. I was more concerned about stuffing my face and getting on with the business of my oh-so-important-world that I tossed a few words toward heaven and hoped they counted for something. PLEASE!

One of the reasons I love the picture so much is that you see the humble man before his humble meal giving thanks with reverence and sincerity. I think the holy tap this morning was to remind me that giving thanks for the food blessings I have is worth more than I gave it. We pray before meals in restaurants but it’s a quick thing, too. We pray before we eat dinner every evening, sometimes my Honey is praying over his plate while I’m still in the kitchen. Sometimes, usually on a Friday night Shabbat dinner meal, we actually give a proper prayer of thanks. Usually, it’s a perfunctory prayer offered up so we can get about the business of eating without further ado. How sad is that!

So, my prayer this morning for all of us is that we get our selfish selves out of the way long enough to really…sincerely…humbly…come before the Lord in thanks for the blessings of nourishment He provides us.  Forgive us, Lord, for the pitiful, mindless things we do and the prayers of thanks we’ve left unsaid.