And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? – Zechariah 7:6

Today's Scripture Reading (October 9, 2023): Zechariah 7

Summer is often our wedding season. Wedding season usually begins in the spring, but it hits its stride as the warm days approach. My wife, Nelda, and I were married in August, just before I had to return to university. For others, it is because they want the warm weather for any outside activities or pictures. My daughter got married in October, and I remember the cold day we had as we tried to get the pictures taken and back to the hotel for the reception.

As a clergy, I am always intrigued by the difference between those who attend the service and those who just come to the reception. For some, it is the reception that is important because that is where the food is going to be. Somehow, the ceremony is considered to be unimportant. If you want me to come, then feed me.

The problem with the attitude is that it misses the importance of the various activities that take place at a wedding. As we gather for the ceremony, the focus is on the couple who are getting married. We become the witnesses of this union and often are asked to support and assist the couple on their coming journey. And as we gather to eat, the focus hasn't changed; it is still the couple sitting at the head table. We eat and drink, but not for ourselves or even to feed our hunger; at a wedding, we eat and drink to celebrate the couple who just got married. Our focus remains on them.

Zechariah's reminder is that when we eat and drink, our focus is not supposed to be on us; it is supposed to be on God. The offering of prayer at mealtime, or what we sometimes refer to as "saying grace," is not an empty ritual that we perform mindlessly. It is a reminder that the food we are about to eat is a celebration of God. Our prayers should reflect the simple reality that God has given us the food, and he is celebrated as we eat the food.

Mealtime prayer can be as simple as a child's prayer. And the words of a common first prayer sums up what a meal prayer should be.

            God is Great (We praise God)

            God is Good (We praise God)

            Let us thank him for our food (Let us celebrate God as we eat what he has given us).

            Amen.

Admittedly, my wife sometimes laughs at me when I pray this child's prayer with no kids around, but it is all that needs to be said. God, we recognize as we eat that we are celebrating you.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Zechariah 8