First Blessing for Take and Eat class

Bless this food to our use, and us to your service, and make us ever mindful of the needs of others. Amen.

I just finished reading the book Born Again Bodies for our class. It explores the history of U.S. Christian attitudes towards body, appetite, and eating. I was sad that so much of it confirmed the mentality of crass individualism. In light of this, I wanted to write a table blessing that included service to others and mindfulness towards the needs of others....community life. Intentionally, I did not address the prayer to a particular divinity because we prayed this prayer in an interfaith chaplain meeting at the hospital where I work. We are a diverse group representing a wide range of faith traditions.