The Snowflake Chronicles

Saying Grace

8 Qawl 163 B.E. - November 30, 2006

It seems that everywhere I look to night; something brings back a memory of either my Grandpa and Grandma Newland or my Grandma Darbe. The one memory that is common to all three of my grandparents is saying grace before meals. An e-mail newsletter brought this memory back.

I’m subscribed to several lists that send me daily quotes. This particular newsletter sends me quotations from the Baha’i writings. For Wednesday, November 29, 2006, the newsletter contained a prayer written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha.

He is God! Thou seest us, O my God, gathered around this table, praising Thy bounty, with our gaze set upon Thy Kingdom. O Lord! Send down upon us Thy heavenly food and confer upon us Thy blessing. Thou art verily the Bestower, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

`Abdu'l-Baha, Mahmud's Diary, p. 327

Whenever we went to either grandparent’s house they always said grace before meals. My Grandpa Newland usually said grace. He didn’t say long prayers, just a simple thank you for the food and all the blessings. Grandma Darbe’s grace was a bit longer, but that was because she didn’t see us often and whenever we went to her house she always had more blessings to say thank you for than usual. Also when we went to Grandma Darbe’s house, we usually went at Christmas.

In fact, the last time I saw Grandma Darbe was during a Christmas trip there. I found the photos of that visit the other day. I’m going to scan them and e-mail them to my brothers. I’ll burn a CD with all the family pictures for my sister, she doesn’t have e-mail, but I think she can have the pictures printed off for herself somewhere.

I don’t think I’ll read any more e-mail tonight. It’s 11:22:08 PM PST and I would like to get to bed sometime before midnight. However, if I keep reading e-mails I’m just going to encounter more memories that I have to write down immediately. Besides, I want to say a prayer for the departed for all my grandparents tonight. Maybe if I’m really lucky I’ll dream about them as well.