a compromise pre-meal blessing?

[atheistmama]

Brief intro: I'm a married mama of four boys - 2 are adults and I have twin toddlers as well. My husband is, and comes from a large family of, devout ECLA Lutherans. My experience has been that they are in general lovely, sincere, giving, accepting, non-proselytizing folks. Even my husband hasn't tried to convert me.

My oldest son is an atheist, like me.
My second son is a Baha'i, as I used to be.
My twins haven't yet been indoctrinated.

I am a completely non-activist as religion goes. I don't wear a sign that says "atheist" but I say I am if someone asks. I refuse to debate it.

I would love to communicate with other parents/folks in a similar position.

Here's my current thing...

A couple of weeks ago my twins started going to a morning preschool a couple of days a week. DH and I went to their harvest celebration on Friday. The children apparently always say a blessing before they eat. I thought it was lovely - something along the lines of thanking the sun and the earth for the bounty, yadda yadda. It was simple and sweet and (I thought) non-offensive to anyone of any religion or notreligion.

That evening I was talking to DH about it because I like the idea of taking a moment before a meal to think about where it came from and to be thankful for it. Obviously I'm not going to do a religious blessing though, so I told him I thought theirs was a nice compromise.

He balked. He said it was clearly a pagan blessing, not just something neutral. He said that if you're thanking, you're thanking someone or something. That blessing thanked the sun and moon or whatever in lieu of thanking the creator of the sun etc. Sigh.

So I'd like to come up with some sort of short, child-friendly blessing we can say that reminds all of us that the food didn't just magically appear on our plates but that doesn't involve a deity. Ideas?

I saw this somewhere and liked it:

For the meal we are about to eat,
for those who made it possible,
and for those with whom we are about to share it,
we are thankful.

[Minimalist]

Try this.

[pineapplebunnybounce]

I think it's a good opportunity and a good idea, you should thank the farmers, they work their asses off and get very little pay. Good awareness to cultivate. It is actually a pretty good idea I have to say, lol. A lot of kids grow up thinking the useful people in society are doctors, engineers and all those when in truth they would not be able to survive without the farmers, the garbage collectors, etc. etc.

Oh and thank Darwin and Mendel, without whom we would not know how to manipulate and select crops to this level of efficiency. (I don't think your husband would like this though, XD).

[Angrboda]

How about, "Go blow Jesus or Yahweh or whatever you want to call Him out your ass. Amen." Start 'em while they're young. "Hierva mala nunca muere."

[ThePrimeSingularity]

I really like the one you found, atheistmama.

To reiterate:
For the meal we are about to eat,
for those who made it possible,
and for those with whom we are about to share it,
we are thankful.

[atheistmama]

I think it's a good opportunity and a good idea, you should thank the farmers, they work their asses off and get very little pay. Good awareness to cultivate. It is actually a pretty good idea I have to say, lol
....

I actually thought of this and had composed a much longer one, but it's not very child-friendly. Plus, where do we start and end? I cooked it, so thank me. I bought the food at the market, so thank the employees and owner of the market. The food was shipped to the market, so thanks to the drivers and the manufacturers of the trucks. The trucks got the food from the farm, so thank the farmers and most particularly the laborers. The animals lost their lives so we could eat them, so thank them. The fruit and vegetables grew because of the soil, water, and sun, so thank nature... LOL you can see how it can get out of hand!

---

By the way, I'm not interested in teaching my children to be hateful, condescending, or rude to people who don't share their views. I don't much like it when it's done to me by religious folks so I try not to do it to them.

[Angrboda]

By the way, I'm not interested in teaching my children to be hateful, condescending, or rude to people who don't share their views. I don't much like it when it's done to me by religious folks so I try not to do it to them.

Yes. You want to set a good example. As in this rude and condescending reply.

[pineapplebunnybounce]

I think it's a good opportunity and a good idea, you should thank the farmers, they work their asses off and get very little pay. Good awareness to cultivate. It is actually a pretty good idea I have to say, lol
....

I actually thought of this and had composed a much longer one, but it's not very child-friendly. Plus, where do we start and end? I cooked it, so thank me. I bought the food at the market, so thank the employees and owner of the market. The food was shipped to the market, so thanks to the drivers and the manufacturers of the trucks. The trucks got the food from the farm, so thank the farmers and most particularly the laborers. The animals lost their lives so we could eat them, so thank them. The fruit and vegetables grew because of the soil, water, and sun, so thank nature... LOL you can see how it can get out of hand!

---

By the way, I'm not interested in teaching my children to be hateful, condescending, or rude to people who don't share their views. I don't much like it when it's done to me by religious folks so I try not to do it to them.

Well, tell them to think of a different person to thank each meal, can be an activity, raises awareness for historical contributions as well. I don't know if you're not going for awareness what were you going for? Ritual? I don't see the value in rituals in this type of setting, so I won't know what's best.

And how has anything I said been hateful?

[Angrboda]

And how has anything I said been hateful?

I believe she was talking about me, bunny, but she can clarify.

[Nine]

For the meal we are about to eat,
for those who made it possible,
and for those with whom we are about to share it,
we are thankful.

Sounds good to me.