Saying Grace
Category: Unitarian Universalism - General
Saying grace before meals is a kind of prayer, one that incorporates gratitude into a small moment of daily life.
SC Unitarian Universalist recently wrote about his own history of saying grace. He argues that saying grace can be meaningful whether or not one uses the vocabularly of “let us pray” and “amen,” as he did growing up. What matters is the “purpose” of saying grace:
Let’s put aside what the actual words mean, I forgo “words” to focus on the purpose. Yes, it’s really not a table reflection, or pre-meal thoughts - but if the purpose is to be thankful - then that is what I do: remind us to be thankful, to count our blessings.
It may only take a moment to say grace, but those many moments of briefly articulating faith and gratitude can have a cumulative effect over the course of a lifetime.
Another reason grace may be so meaningful is that it is a rare moment of communal worship that takes place outside of the church. It does not need to be led by a trained professional, but by whomever has come to the table. It does not need to read from a book or hymnal. Spoken grace requires just a few words of reflection, shared with gratitude.
November 5th, 2007 14:25
Do you have some ideas for a simple table grace? I guess I feel like the grace we used while I was growing up doesn’t “fit” now that I am exploring UUism. What would you recommend?
November 5th, 2007 15:40
As a NeoPagan UU, I say “For what we are about to recieve, may The Divine make us truly thankful”. Since this doesn’t specify the nature of, number of, or gender of any Divinties involved, it is acceptable to everyone but Dawkins.
November 6th, 2007 11:04
Laurie,
Great question. The words Joel suggested are lovely (thanks Joel). I also believe whatever words of gratitude are in your heart will be just fine — whether those words thank God, Jesus, Allah, the Spirit of Life, the Goddess, or another sacred figure or source.
Over the next day or two, I’ll look up some graces that are written and/or used by Unitarian Universalists and send those to you as well.
November 6th, 2007 14:04
[…] In response to yesterday’s post on saying grace, Laurie asked for some Unitarian Universalist words for saying grace. Here are a few suggestions of table graces by and for UU’s: […]