Meal Blessing

I'm generally opposed to the habit I see among lots of parents of letting their kids "graze" - setting out snacks and allowing the kids to wander up from play and grab food, and wander back to play with food. I can see a certain utility in this; especially during play-dates, it allows the moms to chat while the kids feed themselves, and minimizes struggles over table manners. The problem I have with that is, well, anything worth doing is going to require some effort, and I think table manners are worth doing. I also find grazing to be messy, and it makes me nervous, I'm always worried that the kids are touching everything with sticky hands, picking up lead dust, spreading germs, and generally being slobs, and learning slobbish behavior. 

We generally sit down to eat at the table, and say a meal blessing. I don't like to eat in a hurry or on the go, I'd rather just not eat and wait until there is time to have a nice meal. Supposedly there is a statistical correlation between eating family meals together and children's avoidance of behavioral problems, criminal activity, etc.  I don't need research to show me this though, it seems like an obvious part of being a human being, sharing mealtimes with your fellows. Plus it's enjoyable. 

The meal blessing we use is one we made up ourselves:

Hail Erda, green & good - 

May we be worthy of this food!

Hail Sunna shining high - 

May we always bravely try!

Hail our Family, everywhere - 

May we enjoy the time we share!

Erda is our Earth Goddess, roughly equivalent to "Mother Earth". We remember that all food comes from the green and growing earth, and that we should try to be, not just grateful, but realize that we should strive for worthiness. For us to live other life has died, our behavior needs to reflect the gravity of that truth, we must always strive for goodness in our actions, and always work at being aware of what our lives mean, the impact we have on others, and what use we have made of the great gifts we have been given by our ancestors. 

Sunna is the Sun goddess, she shines on the good and the wicked alike. She is brave and steadfast in showing her shining face to all the world, everyday. Wolves pursue her hoping to devour her, jotuns gape at her beauty, and yet she never falters in her course. All life feeds on the bounty she gives. This inspires us, her greatness & beauty sustain us in our bodies and spirits. We generally don't eat after sunset, but when we need to we switch this to "Hail Mani in the sky", as he's our moon god. 

Ideally we say this while holding hands in a circle. When we think of our family everywhere, sometimes this brings to mind certain relatives or close friends who we will mention with an additional "hail!" sometimes we think of our ancestors in the halls of the dead, the known whose deeds we recall, and for us this even includes the unknown, all the way back to the beginning of life. 

We end this like most heathen toasts with a "hail!" meaning that all present have heard and acknowledged the memories, ideas, or feelings expressed.