exchemist
Veteran Member
This is a tradition I have always really hated. It seems so po-faced and sanctimonious to inject a prayer, suddenly, into the middle of a celebration, when everyone has already had a glass or two of champagne.At dinner last night, my daughter’s boyfriends mother asked her to lead a pre-dinner prayer. Upon being put on the spot, she froze, so the mother asked me to lead (fairly certain she’s not aware I’m not a Christian). Since they’re Christian, I knew the expectation was, of course, a Christian prayer. I could have easily gone with the indoctrinated “bless us o Lord for these thy gifts which we are about to receive through thy bounty through Christ our Lord, amen” but I didn’t want to offer something that lacked sincerity. So I deferred to “the man of the house” (my daughter’s boyfriend), who froze as my daughter did. So ultimately, the mother led the prayer.
I saw nothing productive in sharing that I wasn’t Christian over dinner, but I may explain why I declined leading the prayer to the mother in private later today.
Placed in the same situation, how would you have handled being asked to lead such a prayer?
Perhaps I would copy one of my father's teachers at his boarding school, who supposedly froze when asked to say grace and finally stammered: "For....for......for......for God's sake, sit down!" Or else, less iconoclastically, just fox 'em with "Benedictus benedicat" - short, sweet and incomprehensible.