Breakfast

The components of my breakfast slowly accumulate in my bowl; cereal grains, seeds, nuts, fruit, some milk and honey, then I sit down to eat.  I am conscious that for many, a step was missed.  I did not stop, fold my hands and bow my head in prayer.  And yet I am grateful, profoundly so, for this privilege and abundance I have access to.  

As I slowly eat, I reflect on this divergence of approach.  I think of friends and partners in ministry, for whom not pausing to say a blessing on the food is unthinkable.  I ponder the deep reverence for life in all its forms that this act conveys, the humble gratitude it expresses, along with the desire and need to connect deeply with God.  It is my desire and need as well.  

Oh God, the source of all that is, thank you for my friends and their deep relationship with life and with all that is Holy.  May the blessing of peace found in divine connection be within their thoughts and hearts today.  Some struggle with deep sorrow and the pain of loss. May they know themselves blessed in the midst of these trials.  There are those who do not have enough.  May those of us who do be reminded to offer the blessing of bread in your stead.  May we not be complacent in our gratitude, but disturbed in our blessings and thereby be a blessing to others…in Jesus name.  

Note:  Illustration is a 1918 photo by Eric Enstrom entitled "Grace."  It is in the public domain.