Divine Care and Provision

Though I am an old man now, I can at times still remember my mother standing at the open door calling me home for supper.  Many a late afternoon ballgame came to an end as my mother let me know it was time to quit whatever I was doing and come home to eat.  The food had been cooked and was on the table.  There was a place for me at that table and her voice let me know it was time to get in it.  Once in our places around the table, there was a blessing for the food and then it was time to eat.

Only as I got older did I realize what a blessing it was to share meals as I was brought up to do.  The television was in the other room and it was turned off.  The moment was about eating and being with family gathered around the table.  While it was not always a perfect time, it was a time set aside for all of us to sit in the presence of one another, thank God for the food and its preparation, engage in some conversation, and, of course, share the food which had been prepared. 

Much of that meal time tradition has been lost for our fast food families.  Eating the food is no longer the centerpiece of meal time.  We stay so busy doing something, watching something, or working on something as we eat that we often finish the meal and hardly know what we have eaten.  In such a culture there is not much need for table blessings.  Table blessings speak of gratitude for the provision of the Almighty God and the way we handle and eat our food in these days speaks more of it being an inconvenience than something which symbolizes the care and provision of God.