Prayer Before Meals

With the holiday season beginning, I can’t help but let my thoughts fall to the age-old family tradition of praying before we eat. Growing up in a Christian family, every meal was preceded with a prayer. Although I am no longer Christian, this one has really stuck with me. Why, of all things, do I still pray before meals? I do it because I believe it's important, regardless of religion.

Thinking About Food
Our lives are very, very busy, and so we often don't even think about the food that we're eating. Not only are we always rushing about, but we are also removed from the process of acquiring the food we eat. This leads to us not giving thought to where it comes from and to exactly what sacrifices had to be made for it to become our meals. How many plants and animals died to put food on your plate? There were those killed for the actual food, those killed in the process of making land to grow the food, etc. Also, how much energy did it take to get you your meals? There's the manual labor, the energy to run machines to harvest, prepare, and transport the food, and much more. So much energy (from labor, machines, and life) has gone into each and every one of your meals, and it can be easy for all of us to forget.