I Blog Poetry and Prose

Grace at Table

Jamal (Beauty), 14 Izzat (Might) 177 B.E. - Sunday, September 20, 2020

"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-Bahá12

Sunday the first day of the week on the Gregorian calendar. On the Baha'i calendar it is Jamal, the day of Beauty. It is church day for some, and, for others, it just another work day or a day off from work or school. For me, today is a day of memories. Memories of growing up in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and attending Sunday services at the First Southern Baptist Mission in the Smelter Heights. My family also attended the First Southern Baptist church in downtown Blackwell, and when we moved to Shawnee, Oklahoma, we attended the Baptist church there. However, it's memories of attending the Mission in the Smelter Heights that are the clearest.

My Grandparents lived in the Heights, so on the weekends and in summer my siblings and I stayed at their home. We went to the Mission on Sundays and for Vacation Bible School in summer. Every Sunday, after church, we would have dinner (our biggest meal of the day) and Grandpa would say grace at the table. When Grandpa said grace he used his own words.

After Grandpa died, I got out of the habit of saying grace at the table. When I attempted to get back into the habit, I used my own words. However, my own words didn't seem adequate and always sounded selfish. Now I use the prayer revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha, because, I feel, they adequate and don't sound selfish.

Footnotes
1  Mahmud's Diary, page 327
2  http://www.bahaiprayers.org/grace1.htm