Grace before Meat in The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Vol. 2
by Charles Lamb
Product Details
Kindle book
Point: Perhaps our habit of saying grace before a meal is not appropriate. It fails to be appropriate not because the Maker does not deserve thanks, but because the Eater is not truly thankful.
Path: Lamb humorously demonstrates the disjunction made between the man’s prayer and the man’s manners at the dinner table.
Sources: Lamb relies on his many hours spent before a table, in the company of both children, gentlemen, and gluttons.
Agreement: Lamb makes the comparison of the belly to a god. I think he is exactly right. Our appetites rule over us. Whether one gorges, or starves themselves, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame.
Personal App: When I sit down to pray before a meal, do I thank God for his provision at every occasion, or merely at feasts? And do I take this thankful spirit with me as I open my mouth again to eat?
Some Favorite Quotes:
“The form then of the benediction before eating has its beauty at a poor man’s table, or at the simple and unprovocative repasts of children. It is here that the grace becomes exceedingly graceful.”
“It is a confusion of purpose to mutter out praises from a mouth that waters.”
“The giver is veiled by his gifts.”
“I would have them postpone their benediction to a fitter season, when appetite is laid; when the still small voice can be heard, and the reason of the grace returns–with temperate diet and restricted dishes. Gluttony and surfeiting are no proper occasions for thanksgiving.”
“but the proper object of the grace is sustenance, not relishes; daily bread, not delicacies; the means of life, and not the means of pampering the carcass.
Stars: 5 out of 5
It would be worth another read and I would recommend it.