prayers & blessings for our food

[purple_tao]

Hello :angel fishies..........

"Any time we eat, it's holy.
We should have ritual and ceremony,
not just gobbling down some food to keep us alive."
....a quote from a book....

How many of you actually DO say a prayer or a blessing before eating? I've tried to do this each time I sit down to eat. It seems sacrilegious to ask for a blessing for my food, then puke it up ~~being bulimic~~.

Blessings are a way of thanking God not only for our food, but for every aspect of our lives. They provide a simple way to acknowledge our connection to the Creator and to all people (everyone who was involved in getting that food to your table). Blessings bring a sense of peace and love to your mealtime.

There are five types of prayers:

:stars Adoration
:stars Confession
:stars Petition
:stars Praise
:stars Thanksgiving

The blessing of a meal can use any combination of these, but obviously Thanksgiving should be included in every case.

If you eat alone, don't be afraid (or ashamed!) to say the prayer of gratitude and/or blessing out loud!!

There are many types of prayers. Christian, Catholic, Buddhist, etc..... I read that perhaps the Jews more than any people in the world, observe lots of laws and customs that pertain to food and prayer. Observant Jews recite blessings before, during and after meals. WOW! Moslems believe that food and eating are one of the great blessings of Allah, and it is kept in mind whenever a meal is consumed.

In "Living Buddha, Living Christ", Thich Nhat Hanh speaks a little about "mindful eating". In Buddhist monastaries, they eat their meals in silence to make it easier to give their full attention to the food and to the other people who are present. They chew each bite thirty times to help themsevles be truly in touch with the food!! Before every meal, a monk (or nun) recite the Five Contemplations (similar to prayers/blessings). He says, "Every time I hold a bowl of rice, I know how fortunate I am." He understands that every day, thousands of children die of starvation; and because of that, he does not take his food for granted.

Eat mindfully, :fishy !! No distractions, no anger. Be at peace with yourself when you eat and be thankful for what you have :bounce .

Any comments???

Toodles.......:vroom

:peace
:love

[JenRebekah]

When I was at my worst in the ed, then NO i never prayed, EVER, because of such depression...but growing up, and now, that I am feeling better in recovery, i do pray, and I bless the food before meals.

I try to pray every morning and every night. And I put all those five things IN the one prayer :love


You are sweetie!:peace

[Simone]

PurpleTao,

Thank for that important reminder. I am always sure to say a prayer of gratitude before eating, and I choose and prepare the food very lovingly at most times. Then there are times when I lose myself; I am angry or hurt, and out-of-control. I feel very guilty about this because I do believe that nourishing food is a gift:gift

:flower

[fefa]

This is a good remind! We need to see our food in another way!!! Changing this concept and stick with GOD! We canot feel guilty about eating about nurturing ourselves, about BEING alive!!
Love
Take care!!

[Chriszgirl]

:stars Yes, we pray :angel every night....I have a little baby boy and it is our dinner ritual...even if we are at a reaturant, we pray:angel......I do not think about it in terms of my ed, but a practice i want him to do every night! :happy Sometimes, if we forget at the beginning, he will always remind us:winky I feel like i am doing my job :cute

[Pella]

:hugonPurple:hugoff
You mentioned Mindful Eating. (Living Buddha, Living Christ) Even though I practice Christianity....I relate to the Zen philosophy because of how they seek to awaken themselves to their life as it is. To the immediacy of this very moment. I love that! I hold that premise very dear. living in the moment. I used to always want to figure life out. Worry through all my preoccupations! And then I would forget the moment and drift off into thinking about something else....usually something that gave me emotional agitiation. Anyway back to the subject of Thanksgiving prayers before eating. I pray and bless my food more often now. Before recovery, I too felt sort of sacreligious about it? In any event.....I praise Him for EVERYTHING! :grin Especially His stength through my weaknessess. Amen!
Love beth :sun

[kieralee]

:trigger just in case

there is a blessing that i always say before eating. being bullimic it helps me in some way that i can't really explain or understand to help me rid myself of the guilt of wasting the food.

Blessing for food

Thankyou food for sacrificing yourself for me,
for death provides me with life.
Your energy becomes my energy,
and i become you.
So i pray to you to share with me,
what gifts you can
and i thank you and honour you.

Blessed be :fishy

[MEnHP]

I think your idea of being more respectful about food is great, i think i eat so automatically that i don't even think about it and therefore don't spend enough time being careful about what foods go into my body. thanks.

[tessi]

Thanks for this reminder! Sometimes, food is such "the enemy" that realizing its nourishment and healthfulness is hard.
I appreciate your reminding me!
Tessi

[doggie]

:hugonpurpleone:hugoff You caught me with my faith down :sad.....In spite of all the spiritual work I do I have never developed any habit of prayer with my meals. I would remember occasionally but that's all.....I can only imagine that it is because food is such a source of confused emotions for me that I forget that it is a gift from God....Thanks for the :kick in the pants.....:love :dog

[Jali]

:hugon :fishy s :hugoff

This is a really interesting discussion.
I've found that when I'm in "recovery mode " I sort of spontaneously want to bless food before eating, and sometimes think it will be part of the answer to my problems. I'm Jewish, and we have specific blessings for different kinds of food, but basically each one just says Thank You for creating the food.

It's OK when I'm sticking to a strict (and frugal :ugh) meal-plan, but I always run into problems if I just eat what I want. Then I always doubt if I'm being greedy, or if I really needed it, and whether blessing it is "right".

But, yes, in principle, "sanctifying" eating is a great way to bring some meaning and joy into the eating part of recovery :happy.

:love
Jali

[amysanangel]

I have always prayed before eating, since i was very small, but lately, i have added a special prayer to it- asking God to help me eat my food and remember that it blesses my body, which he created. it helps me keep perspective on what i'm doing.
:beatnik Amy

[urbanfaerie]

Before I eat, I thank the plants and animals that gave their energy and lives to provide me with nourishment. I also thank, for lack of a better word for me, the Universe and the Lady.

That's what I do.

:love
Heather