Bless This Food: Ancient and Contemporary Graces from Around the World [Hardcover]

Adrian Butash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2007

Sharing food is the most universal cultural experience, connecting people to one another, to nature, and to the infinite. Expressing thanks for food was the world's first act of worship and is common to every known society. Saying grace before meals is a wonderful family tradition to observe, as it acknowledges bounty and our daily sustenance as gifts from the divine. Bless This Food gathers 160 timeless mealtime blessings, including prayers from a variety of religions, ancient traditions, and visionary authors, as well as two in American Sign Language. Background on the prayers and the traditions they represent provides context for each eloquent blessing. Open the book to any page, and find a delightful way to enrich any mealtime gathering.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Cultivating gratitude is one of the most powerful choices you can make for your health and happiness. This book of blessings can help you do that on a daily basis.” — M.J. Ryan, author of A Grateful Heart and Attitudes of Gratitude “A precious gem of a book! Every home would benefit from owning it and sharing the delicious wisdom it offers. Focusing on the four most important forms of nourishment for human beings — food, gratitude, awareness, and connection — it reminds us to be aware of the sacred quality of what the universe freely offers. Bravo!” — John E. Welshons, author of When Prayers Aren't Answered --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From the Back Cover

"Cultivating gratitude is one of the most powerful choices you can make for your health and happiness. This book of blessings can help you do that on a daily basis."
-- M.J. Ryan, author of A Grateful Heart and Attitudes of Gratitude

"A precious gem of a book! Every home would benefit from owning it and sharing the delicious wisdom it offers. Focusing on the four most important forms of nourishment for human beings -- food, gratitude, awareness, and connection -- it reminds us to be aware of the sacred quality of what the universe freely offers. Bravo!"
-- John E. Welshons, author of When Prayers Aren't Answered

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: New World Library; 2nd edition (September 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157731591X
• ISBN-13: 978-1577315919
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #809,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bless this Book and the Food for Thought+, September 16, 2008

By 

Magickal Merlin "Wizard" (Death Valley-SoCal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bless This Food: Ancient and Contemporary Graces from Around the World (Hardcover)

This is an excellent little prayer book on various ancient and modern graces.It's not just a European christian benedictory ,but from differnet cultures ,around the world.In our modern world,we have really lost the religious experience of eating.With our fast food society all around us,the companionship of 'breaking bread' with the family and friends,is a rare sacred event indeed thesedays.I've never seen anyone pray before eating their burger combo.We have gotten away from the knowledge of our food.Where is it grown? How is it grown? What nutrients does it contain? We just take it for granted everyday.We are what we eat.Natural foods are healthy and connect us to Nature,the Infinite.Our Earth can produce a bounty of food gifts.The Wise give thanks for fair weather and equal balance of sunshine and the rain.Both the communists and capitalists have tried to fetter the forces of Nature,for their various planned quotas or profit margins.Yet,Nature is still an awesome power that operates freely ,from human machinations of restraint.This book has so many worthwhile eloquent blessings.These mahlzeit evocations all have some basic common beliefs.That of heavenly gratitude for our daily nourishment,the communion with earthly nature,and the spiritual connection with the righteous. For a small alimentary breviary,it has a lot to digest and to nourish one's soul.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even if you don't have a formal religion in your life, November 16, 2008

By 

Great Mama "goddess" (western maine) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bless This Food: Ancient and Contemporary Graces from Around the World (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful way to be greatful for all that we have. So many differrent types of blessings. We prefer using the word blessing rather than grace but either way you slice it, very nice compilation.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely blessings & meditations from many cultures, October 21, 2008

By 

Neddie Ludd "Neddie Ludd" (Central Florida, USA, Earth) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bless This Food: Ancient and Contemporary Graces from Around the World (Hardcover)

This is a unique book of blessings, graces, and meditations on food and thanksgiving. There are several traditional christian ones, but also buddhist, native american (several), african, and more. I really like the fact that the author has included a brief paragraph about the author of the grace, the culture, or the history surrounding it. I have marked several "favorites" & I plan to read one at our dinner each evening with the kids. We are Unitarian Universalists, and we appreciate the wealth and diversity of many religious and cultural traditions. This book is perfect for sharing a glimpse into thankfulness as expressed all over the world.