A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles (Prayers, Poems, Gratitude, Affirmations, Thanks) [With Ribbon Marke

This was exactly what I was looking for... I am a devout agnostic, part-time Unitarian, with a young son in whom I wish to instill a sense of spirituality, even religiosity. One way I wanted try to do this was by starting a tradition of prayer at meal-times with him. Having no real experience in this activity, I ordered this book... Organized by season, the prayers evoke an appropriate sense of time and place. The authors are widely varied, and all of the writings utilize wonderful imagery. I believe almost every prayer can be appreciated by people of all faiths, and even atheists who feel a need to express appreciation for what they have before them. My 3-year-old son has memorized his favorite evening springtime prayer, which goes like this: Come out! Come out! From bogs, old frogs Command the dark. And look...the stars. (not sure about the punctuation and I don't remember the author - I'm writing from memory...but you get the idea). There are of course more traditional prayers than that. And I should mention that even though the title refers to blessings for the evening meal, there are several for morning-time as well, greeting the new day.

This diverse collection of beautiful prayers and blessings contains themes which are relevant to whatever gathering I'm a part of. I have used the blessings to begin meetings, as part of a presentation, at family mealtime and for my personal inspriation. I have bought my own copy and have given two other copies as gifts. The language of each blessing speaks very powerfully.

This book is much like Gibrahn's "The Prophet" in that whatever passage you turn to, it is the correct one for your meal's blessing. Whether it is a contemprary figure or Buddah, the author has compiled these prayers to give maximal contemplation without imposing secular overtones to the thought. I have just given away my copy to a close friend who immediately became absorbed.

Like I said this is an awesome book!! I finally bought it after borrowing it from my church library for 2 months!! This is one book that will not collect dust in your book shelf. I keep it on my bed and flip through it whenever possible, and everything in it just makes you stop and think. It's full of really good poetry and prayers (meditations). One of these days my family should start using it before meals. It's a great idea to discuss it through the meal.

We've all heard about the road to hell... My own personal hell is canned grace and I vowed I would teach my kids to speak their thanks for the food before them from the heart. Nope, no rote prayers in our house. Well it took about two weeks before they were lisping "Thank you for the food we're gonna eat," as fast as they could speak the words and in singsong just to make it worse. Then enters The Grateful Heart. What a wonderful difference! The short, profound selections come from all over the world, from all faiths. We take turns, one reading per meal. Often the selection leads to discussions far more interesting than what used to be why we're having carrots or spinach AGAIN. And quite frequently, spontaneously, one of the children concludes the reading with the words "Thank you." Which is the point of grace to begin with.