For Sunday, a reflection on saying Grace.

The custom of giving thanks before meals, whether by invocation of the Deity or a general acknowledgement of a gift received, is a pious custom that predates the Christian Era and can be found among the religious traditions and cultural customs of peoples in many places of the world.

I am sorry to see the practice diminish in our barbaric time.

In casual dining events today, the pause for “saying Grace” has almost disappeared.

There seems to be a general embarrassment about participating in a ritual that is often associated with children, religious intrusion, or sentimentality.  (Having Sunbonnet characters endorse the habit may be evidence of that.)

I think that, by ignoring ritual, we lose a sense of belonging to the great web of life – of acknowledging our dependence on others and of being sustained by continued gifts and blessings.

This postcard illustration of the Sunbonnet characters saying Grace was copyrighted in 1905 by the Ullman Company of New York.

The artist was the well-known illustrator, Dorothy Dixon.

The postcard was mailed from Manheim on May 7, 1908.

Elsie writes to Anna Mary Givler, also of Manheim, about making a dress for Bertha Lehman. 

There is an additional reference to Aunt Mary, but the inscription is so faint and discolored that I am unable to read it clearly.

One hopes that Bertha received her new dress, that Aunt Mary was well, and that Anna Mary and Elsie completed many other projects.