#66453 - Public scripture study

[NerdGirl]

I've probably talked about this before, but the thing that always drove me crazy at BYU was the people who would close their eyes before lunch in the cafeteria and then sit there ostensibly blessing their food for several minutes while I sat across from them awkwardly. It wasn't that I thought they were trying to put on a show of spirituality or anything like that. I just think that if you're going to pray in a group setting like that, you should invite the people who are with you to pray with you. This always happened in the cafeteria in DT with people I knew fairly well and usually in a pretty small group (sometimes just me and the praying person), and I just felt really awkward having to sit their quietly while they prayed. I'm Mormon, too - why couldn't they just ask me to pray with them?!?

[Dragon Lady]

NerdGirl, why didn't you just say your own quiet prayer instead of sitting there awkwardly wishing they had asked you to pray with them?

I was actually thinking about a similar topic recently. I know many people don't like people praying silently over meals in public for a whole slew of reasons. All of you that feel that way, do you still feel that way over meals in the cafeteria in the temple?

[Unit of Energy]

A good friend of mine works in the Logan temple, and she informed us that they actually have the first person in line in the cafeteria bless the food at the beginning of the day. Clearly this doesn't mean that you can't have your own prayer of thanks, and I don't know if it is the same at other temples, but I found that interesting.

[NerdGirl]

NerdGirl, why didn't you just say your own quiet prayer instead of sitting there awkwardly wishing they had asked you to pray with them?

Actually, I often did say my own prayer when that happened. And sometimes I would ask if we could bless the food together and people would say no.

[Fredjikrang]

I'm surprised that they would say no. Especially if they were eating on campus!

[Yarjka]

...the people who would close their eyes before lunch in the cafeteria and then sit there ostensibly blessing their food for several minutes while I sat across from them awkwardly.

That happened to me on a date once. That whole date was awkward.

[bobtheenchantedone]

My grandfather and I often eat breakfast at the same time, but rarely speak to each other. And we each say our own prayers over our food.

[Cindy]

You've also got to love the grimaces people make at you when you start talking to them without realizing they're blessing their food.

[Fredjikrang]

I usually get more of a grin than a grimace on my face. I think it is funny.

[wryness]

A good friend of mine works in the Logan temple, and she informed us that they actually have the first person in line in the cafeteria bless the food at the beginning of the day. Clearly this doesn't mean that you can't have your own prayer of thanks, and I don't know if it is the same at other temples, but I found that interesting.

Same question as if you arrive to some sort of group meal, but they've already said the prayer. Since it's been pre-blessed, should you say another prayer? I personally feel that the prayer is more about expressing gratitude for the food--and getting another chance to connect to Heavenly Father during the day--than it is about somehow boosting the nutritional power of the food, or whatnot.

Usually with refreshments, I just ask that they be blessed "so that we might enjoy them." I feel guilty asking for the Lord to make Krispy Kremes become nutritious.

[NerdGirl]

I'm surprised that they would say no. Especially if they were eating on campus!

You know, the more I talk about stuff like this, the more I realize that some of the friends I had at BYU were jerks. Not all of them. Not even most of them. But definitely some.

[Yarjka]

Usually with refreshments, I just ask that they be blessed "so that we might enjoy them." I feel guilty asking for the Lord to make Krispy Kremes become nutritious.

I've been known to ask that the food be made "yummy", as I don't really care whether the treats are nutritious. It's also very easy to tell whether or not my prayer had effect.

[bobtheenchantedone]

My sister always blesses the food to be "delicious and nutritious."

[NerdGirl]

One time when I was at BYU I was in a research group meeting and I got asked to say the opening prayer, and right when I was about to start, the girl who had asked me to pray said, "Oh! And don't forget to bless the donuts and doritos!" I started laughing so hard she had to ask someone else to pray.

[Dragon Lady]

I usually say I'm thankful for the food, then ask for blessings of health. I put them together so people don't freak out that I didn't "bless" the food, but really, in my mind, they're separate, though related, things.

[Marduk]

It strikes me that what we really ought to be praying for in most of these circumstances is actually the wisdom NOT to eat these things.

[Craig Jessop]

If I have to pray, I pray that they'll be enjoyable. But I don't like praying over food in a public setting. If I want to pray over my Happy Meal (don't judge, people...), I will. But when it comes to a prayer over the pizza you're eating at the ward talent show, I'd rather just get it over with and dig in.

[Dragon Lady]

Ok, food for thought here. I noticed today that in the sacrament prayers, we pray to bless and sanctify the bread and water. How is that different from blessing our food? And what are we specifically asking when we bless the bread and water?

[Yarjka]

Ok, food for thought here. I noticed today that in the sacrament prayers, we pray to bless and sanctify the bread and water. How is that different from blessing our food? And what are we specifically asking when we bless the bread and water?

This is precisely why I don't like "blessing the food." I'm fine with saying a prayer before eating in order to give thanks, but there is no reason to invoke a blessing over the food itself, unless you think it may be poisoned or something.* A pizza is not the sacrament.*

*If I read through the lines of D&C 27, it seems that poisoning actually was a fear of the early church members, hence the command to use only pure wine of our own make in the Word of Wisdom.
*Although there's no reason pizza couldn't be used for the sacrament (but the fabulous taste might be distracting).

[Dragon Lady]

I don't understand, Yarjka. Are you saying we should only bless the sacrament? That we shouldn't bless our food because we bless the sacrament?