by Witness 007 7 Replies latest watchtower scandals
I used to "give thanks to Jehovah" for each meal three times a day, before I realized that the only reason I had a meal...or clothes or a house was because I got off my butt and earned a living. Yes you can pray 24/7 but if you don't get off your knees and look for a job a Turkey dinner WILL NOT be found on the door step....So I should give thanks to myself instead of some imagined "Gene in a bottle" that used magic to get me my dinner.
Praise Witness 007 for he is merciful and kind.
Yeah Shamus I was like...."thank you for this meal I paid for with my hard earned wages...which I drove to the store to buy....which I prepared cleaned and cooked....then had to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen....but thank YOU Jehover for your help...and please help those Brothers who are starving."
When I was a kid we prayed over our meals..Mom was a terrible cook..What a waste of time..The food never tasted any better...............
...OUTLAW
I always found the idea of praying to God before meals a bit silly. Okay so he created food, but didn't he also create us with the need to eat? Well why don't we just pray and give thanks before each breath of air then?
What would make more sense, imo, would be to go to the feed lot, or wherever the animals are just before they are killed, and do a general prayer to their life force, or spirit. If you watched the movie 'the gods must be crazy', you saw the pigmy explaining to the dying animal why he needed to kill it.
Likewise w the veggies and grains. Talk to them while they are still alive, just before you drop em into the boiling water;).
The wtgod is infinitely far away, in the 'spiritual heavens', which is outside the universe, and outside of the possible multiverse. Successful communication w it would seem to be spotty, at best.
;)S
Praise you and praise me, too, since I'm my own goddess and if it weren't for me, there would be no food on my table!
I always felt like it didn't do any good to say a blessing for the food, like I was just talking to myself.
It didn't change the food one bit.
It did sound a bit pagan to bless the food when I was a JW.
It also sounds a bit superstitious to think that one must say a prayer before each meal or one would displease a god.
here is some of what wiki has to say on the subject...
Grace is a name for any of a number of short prayers said or an unvoiced intention held prior to partaking of a meal, thanking deity and/or the entities that have given of themselves to furnish nutrients to those partaking in the meal. Some traditions hold that grace and thanksgiving imparts a blessing which in some traditions is held to sanctify or make sacred the meal. In the English language tradition, reciting a prayer prior to eating is traditionally referred to as "saying grace".
A prayer of Grace is said to be an act of offering thanks to God for granting humans dominion over the earth and the right and ability to sacrifice the lives of divine creations for sustenance; this thanks is the "saying of Grace" prior to and/or after eating of any meal.
and on religions that say grace....
Typical Christian grace prayers
- Ecumenical.God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.
- Protestant.Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.
- Catholic.Let us pray! Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy/Your gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy/Your bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
- Catholic (Latin).Nos oremus! Benedic, Domine, nos et hæc Tua dona, quæ de Tua largitate sumus sumpturi. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.
- Catholic (German).Lass’t uns beten! Segne, Herr, uns und diese deine Gaben, die wir von deiner Großmut essen werden. Durch Christus, unseren Herr’n. Amen.
- Eastern Orthodox.O Christ God, bless the food and drink of Thy servants, for holy art Thou, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. The one saying the prayer may make the Sign of the Cross over the food with his right hand. After the meal, all stand and sing: We thank Thee, O Christ our God, that Thou hast satisfied us with Thine earthly gifts; deprive us not of Thy heavenly kingdom, but as Thou camest among Thy disciples, O Saviour, and gavest them peace, come unto us and save us. [1] There are also seasonal hymns which are sung during the various Great Feasts. At Easter, it is customary to sing the Paschal troparion.
- Scots (The Selkirk Grace).Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it; But we hae meat, and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be thankit.
- Australian (any denomination).Come Lord Jesus, be our Guest, let this food of ours be blessed. Amen.
- Common in UK schools.For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen.
Note: Many Christian households or institutions (e.g. schools) ad lib grace at every meal, and it is not uncommon for events from the day to be mentioned in the prayer.
[ edit ] Jewish grace
- Main article: Birkat Hamazon
With the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, the offering of the presribed sacrifices ceased in Judaism. Thereafter, the Rabbis prescribed the substitution of other ritual actions to fill this void in Jewish obedience to the Torah. The ritural washing of hands and eating of salted bread is considered to be a substitute for the sacrificial offerings of the kohenim (Jewish priests). [2]
Though there are separate blessings for fruit, vegetables, non-bread grain products, and meat, fish, and dairy products, a meal is not considered to be a meal in the formal sense unless bread is eaten. The duty of saying grace after the meal is derived from Deuteronomy 8:10 : "And thou shalt eat and be satisfied and shalt bless the Lord thy God for the goodly land which he has given thee." Verse 8 of the same chapter says: "The land of wheat and barley, of the vine, the fig and the pomegranate, the land of the oil olive and of [date] syrup." Hence only bread made of wheat (which embraces spelt) or of barley (which for this purpose includes rye and oats) is deemed worthy of the blessing commanded in verse 10. [3]
After the meal, a series of four (originally three) benedictions are said, or a single benediction if bread was not eaten
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_before_and_after_Meals
Get A Life!
