Yesterday, my wife, son and I had the pleasure of having Sunday dinner with my Mother and Father in-law. As far as dinners go with in-laws it went well I think. No arguments and no 'faith promoting' exercises which actually surprised me.
Of course, before we could eat they had to have the obligatory prayer over the food. Normally, I take this in stride. It's their house and I am all about respecting everyone and their beliefs in their homes. I would never consider being disrespectful of their desire to pray over their food. It is their house after all, and they do respect my wishes to NOT pray in my house.
The prayer itself is what always gets me. In the prayer they took the time to thank God for the food, being healthy etc. What I find odd is this: They didn't thank my wife for cooking it, me for buying it, the farmers for growing it, the truck drivers for transporting it, the processors for canning it etc. None of those people were worth thanking, just God who did NOTHING in preparing it, growing it or bringing it to the table. I am confused by this thought process. The people that ACTUALLY put the EFFORT into it get NO credit while an imaginary friend that does nothing gets ALL THE CREDIT.
Correct me if I'm wrong but this doesn't seem the way things should be. Even Jesus in the Bible thanks the fishermen and farmers for their efforts, but folks can't do that now.
Not sure about that....
It would be fun to pray in a public arena now and actually thank those who did have a hand in the meal.
ReplyDeleteIt's also like thanking God for saving someone during a medical procedure. Forget the docs, nurses, staff, everyone who aided in the recovery. Thank the one person who sat by and watched. Yup....he did a lot....
Heather,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the very insightful comment!
I think we should organize an "Atheist Pray-in" where for one week every one volunteers to pray and then thanks all the folks that are truly responsible for the meal etc. It would be classic, not to mention entertaining.