I’m out of the YSA circuit now, but when I was there I often heard the prayer, “Please bless the refreshments, that they may nourish and strengthen our bodies.” It was funny because the “refreshments” were usually cookies and punch. I am glad I was never called on to bless the refreshments, because I probably would have refused. Putting the questionable nourishing power of donuts aside, why do we ask for a blessing on the food? Do we expect it to change the food in some way? What kind of change?
The Family Guidebook (LDS.org) says, “Parents should teach their children to thank God for their food and ask Him to bless it before they eat. Each person, including young children, should be given a turn to ask God to bless the food.” Okay, so we should bless the food, but it does not say why… Some possibly related scriptures: “And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee, (Exodus 23:25).” “Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude, (Luke 9:16).” Still, not very clear. A lot of things happen in the Bible that we do not practice.
A discussion at Splendid Sun delved into this issue a few years back: “I have come to drop the customary blessing on the food, since I don’t know what it does and I can’t find any evidence that it does anything or is commanded or even recommended by God.” – steve h. “Before I gave up blessing the food, I started getting rid of the strengthen and nourish thing. – John. “What about opening our mouths if we accidentally take a bite first so that the blessing can get down there?” – S. Hancock.
BYU law professor John Welch said this in a devotional speech: “May you pray over your books, as you would bless food for thought.” Why don’t we bless things besides food? (Maybe some do, but I never have.) What about this scripture: “…ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul, (2 Nephi 32:9).” Perhaps we should ask a blessing on everything we do that relates to the welfare of our soul.
I think many of us have become ritualistically obsessed with the word “bless” (as it relates to food) to the point that it has lost its meaning. We need to figure out what “bless the food” means to us, or our prayers around the table may lack meaning. And while I’m thinking about this, I’m going to consider blessing my copy of The Complete Adult Psychotherapy Treatment Planner.
A few more questions:
- Where/when did the blessing on the food originate?
- Is asking for a blessing on the food more important than asking for one on any other object?
- What is significant of food?
- If we don’t bless the food, what are we missing out on?
- Why the repetition–What is the purpose of blessing every meal?
Wheat & Tares 
At a RS function awhile back, the sister giving the opening prayer started to say, "please bless the refreshments…." (we were having a dessert bar) then she paused, and finished with, "that they won't make us fat".
After she sat down, we all giggled a bit, and enjoyed our desserts.
I try really hard to not say "nourish and strengthen" but sometimes it still slips out. If I'm really thinking about it, I express gratitude for the food we have to eat, sometimes I'll ask for a blessing on it (and then HF can bless it in whatever way he sees fit).
Tim Hawkins has a hilarious clip about this in which he asks God to “change the molecular structure of this cheetoh . . .” It’s very funny.
Whenever I think of “blessing” food, I think of the Catholic prayer before meals: “Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from they bounty, through Christ our Lord, Amen.” I do not know the history of it, though.
Typically, I try to think of grace or blessing on the food as a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the food. I think food was chosen as the customary thing to bless because everyone eats – and in American culture, it is customary to eat thrice daily. Thus, if we pray before every meal, it forces us to think about God and give thanks to him three times a day. Thereby increasing the likelihood of “praying always”.
Oh, and when we “bless” things like brownies and cakes or pizza, I try to think of blessing the food to be non-absorbent by my body, so that I can’t absorb the calories. Sadly it hasn’t worked yet.
alice/MC – Ha – so we’re asking for the consequences to be taken away? Worth a try anyway. What is God going to do if we’re mistaken? Make those calories count as double!
MC – I had not thought of it that way, but that does cause us to pray more often. When I pray with my son at night we almost always offer gratitude for his books, which maybe we could start blessing as well. 🙂
Thanks for that video hkobeal…
I think this is a complete misunderstanding of its purpose. If I bless food, it’s out of gratitude, not to change it at the molecular level!
“Is asking for a blessing on the food more important than asking for one on any other object?” and “What is significant of food?”
Well, it keeps us alive, and we’re thanking God for giving it to us. It acknowledges that there’s someone bigger than us, who helps us live.
“If we don’t bless the food, what are we missing out on?”
Remembering that we aren’t the be-all-and-end-all, and that other people don’t have food, or that we might be in that position ourselves.
“Why the repetition–What is the purpose of blessing every meal?”
Remembrance.
Grumpy – thanks. I agree with you, although I think I get lost with the word “bless” if what we’re really doing is “remembering” or “giving thanks.” What is the meaning and function of the word “bless” in this context?
I’ve always assumed that the blessing of food originated in a time when food was not nearly as safe as it is now.
I like my mission president’s prayer: “We thank thee for this food, and ask thee to bless it.” Plain, simple, to the point.
Several years ago as a missionary I had these same questions. I couldn’t find any scriptural injunction to bless food–the closest I could find was Jesus giving thanks for food. So I’ve dropped all phrases involving blessing the food out of the ritualistic family dinner prayers. I give thanks for the food and realize that it’s another opportunity to “pray often,” but blessing it seems unnecessary (what, is the food sick or something and needs a blessing?)
Oddly, in the many years of praying this way (saying meal prayers without blessing the food), noone else has ever noticed. Or at least said anything about it to me.
To me, “blessing” the food is really an opportunity to be more present and aware of all of the little things in my life I have for which I am grateful. For example when I eat a piece of bread I try to be grateful not only for the actual bread, but that I can afford to feed myself, that there are farmers who work harder than I can imagine to grow the ingredients for it, that we had enough rain to allow grain to grow, etc. I’ve tried to look at saying the blessing as an opportunity for spiritual awareness.