Yesterday morning, as I was eating in the dining hall, someone came up to me and said hi. Here’s how that conversation went:
F: “Hey Jan, how are you? I saw from over there and saw you with your eyes closed for so long.”
J: “Oh, I was praying.” I smiled.
F: “What, oh sorry. Usually people pray really fast. Is there so much to be thankful for anyways?”
J:”…there’s always many things to be thankful for, especially for surviving this hectic week.”
H: “Yea, she always prays very long (before meals), and that’s a good thing.”
I’m really fortunate to be living in a time and place where I’m able to openly practice my faith. People in my RC, for the most part, are very understanding towards their Christian friends who say grace before meals. I guess the more you are around people of different race and religions you tend to become more empathetic when you understand their practices.
At the same time, I’m very fortunate to have meals with friends who say grace too, because I feel that our prayers together are so much more beautiful.
So whether or not you practice praying regularly, I just wanted to remind y’all that if you take time to reflect, there’s definitely a lot of things to be thankful for.
And there’s no need to rush through saying grace, you realise you’ll enjoy your meal a lot better.
JAN ANNE 