On Not Taking Our Daily Bread For Granted

Granddog Benson savors the last morsel from his dish.

When our middle son gave me instructions recently about feeding their family's black lab while they were away, he told me about one of his strange behaviors. "When I put food in his dish," he said, "he waits for me to give him verbal permission before wolfing it down."

What a thoughtful dog, I thought, taking a moment to acknowledge his dependence on his master for his meals.

Humans could learn from Benson. In the German language our family spoke when I was growing up, essen meant people eating a meal whereas fressen was typically used for animals devouring their hay, grain or other food, Or we might jokingly use the word to describe a fellow human "eating like a pig."

Taking a moment before a meal to express gratitude to our Creator for the food we're so dependent on seems like an appropriate practice. It could be also be a good time to show some appreciation for the hard labor so many from all over have put into planting, tending, harvesting and making our food available to us.

As someone has observed, every morsel of a plant or animal that gives us life has had to give up its life for our sake, which means every meal could be thought of as a kind of eucharist for the soul as well as nourishment for the body.

In an odd way, maybe even Benson seems to get that.