That loaf of bread: How many hands contributed to its getting to the grocery store? Your last hotel stay: How many workers were involved in making it so pleasant? Why doesn't the little guy ever hear, "What a great sandwich" or "What a good night's sleep”? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition p.582).
Over
the years I have heard grace said at the dinner table many times.
Often the thanksgiving is of a general nature: "Thank you for
this food, bless it to our bodies and us to Thy service. Amen...” A
prayer by my uncle Calhoun Geiger stands out in my memory as offering
sharp contrast. His family and ours were at an evening meal – a
feast – prepared by my mother in Bradenton, Florida. We sat at the
dining room table – a room with windows on two sides. The afternoon
sun shone on the trees outdoors. Dad asked Uncle Calhoun to say
grace. In his quiet, thankful way he began to pray. But there was to
be something very different about this meal's grace. It briefly but
indelibly painted the scene of workers in a field toiling to raise
and harvest crops. Uncle Calhoun was grateful for their efforts
and sacrifices. It struck me as a prayer filled with realism. God's
bounty frequently does not fall as manna from heaven. Toil and sweat
and sacrifice are often involved. It was refreshing to see in this
"thanks be to God" a glimpse of the very practical means of
deliverance – dirty and calloused hands.
