An M* reader named Steve wrote to us last month (I was a little slow in contacting him, so that’s why I’m just posting this now) with some questions. They are questions I don’t really know the answers to, but I have found myself pondering questions like these recently, so I thought I’d post this and see what others think.
I have four related questions about the LDS (and other Christian faiths) practice of “asking a blessing on the food” prior to eating. First, does God really do something to the food, i.e., “bless” it? Second, does God’s blessing the food change it sufficiently that something like spoiled food is made healthy or Oreo’s and Kool-Aid are made healthy? Third, since LDS priesthood holders exercise their authority to pronounce blessings such as for illness, comfort, or even in dedicating graves, homes, etc., why don’t we “pronounce” blessings on food rather than ask God to bless it? Last, if the reality is that we are primarily thanking God for the food (which is appropriate), why do we not just say so?
I am an active adult convert to the Church of about 30 years and have wondered this a long time but have never gotten an answer of any substance. We basically did the same thing of asking for a blessing on the food in my previous Protestant faith and I wondered about it then as well.
I like the idea of praying over food as a way of expressing gratitude and remembering our blessings, though the blessing part of the prayer doesn’t make much sense in that context. I also like the idea of praying over the food as a way of creating a sacred space while doing a mundane thing – one more way of connecting with God. But I’m still not sure why exactly we ask God to bless the food. What is the origin of the tradition?