Not JUST Saying Grace

Poems, hymns lyrics help me reflect upon a focus idea ... I might start the process by prompting an AI to do something like:

• Please furnish LYRICS, not a report. Generate eight 1950s-era cool beat-poet spoken-word lyrics for sparse modal jazz instrumentals for different Christian contemplative thoughts that arise out of the contemplation of the following question, "Not just before, but DURING your next meal, can you practice eating meditation, chewing slowly and savoring each bite as a gift from God and a testament to the Creator's provision?"
• I would prefer that each lyric have a Title based on its content and a Sub-Title that is a verse from biblical scripture that inspires that content.

1. The Sacred Chew

"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them" - Luke 22:19

slow now, slow... this bread between my teeth is more than wheat, more than grain ground down by stones— it's resurrection morning baked into golden crust, each bite a small communion with the One who said "this is my body" and meant it every time we gather crumbs from our ordinary table and taste eternity in the texture of His love

2. Gratitude Riff

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God" - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

dig it, man— this carrot grew in darkness pushed up through soil and rain and time just to end up here on my fork, in my mouth crunching like a prayer orange and sweet and I'm thinking how the earth conspired with sun and seed to make this moment possible this gift I almost swallowed without noticing but now I'm thanking the dirt, the rain, the God who orchestrated this vegetable symphony for my ungrateful tongue

3. Wilderness Provision

"And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium" - Numbers 11:7

what is it? what is it? that's what they asked when heaven's bread fell like dewdrops in the dawn and here I am asking the same question over my rice bowl— what is this sustenance that appears on my table day after day without my deserving? each grain a small miracle I chew slowly now tasting the mystery of daily provision manna still falling if I have eyes to see

4. Taste and See

"O taste and see that the Lord is good" - Psalm 34:8

the psalmist knew something about flavor being revelation about sweetness as theology so I'm letting this honey linger on my tongue amber liquid light made by bees who never read scripture but somehow understood the assignment to transform flower nectar into liquid gold and now it's coating my morning toast and I'm tasting and seeing that goodness has texture has weight has presence has a way of making belief delicious

5. Our Daily Jazz

"Give us this day our daily bread" - Matthew 6:11

this day, this bread not yesterday's stale worry not tomorrow's anxious hunger but this moment's provision warm in my hands this prayer made edible Lord's Prayer improvisation where each bite becomes "give us" and "this day" and "daily" and "bread" scattered across my palate like jazz notes finding their way home to the base line of divine sustenance one chew at a time

6. The Multiplication Meditation

"And they did all eat, and were filled" - Matthew 14:20

five loaves, two fish five thousand souls and somehow there was enough always enough when blessed hands broke the bread and here I sit with my single sandwich feeling the echo of that miracle multiplication each bite expanding in my mouth like love made tangible wondering if I eat with the same gratitude as those who sat on grass that day and tasted impossible provision

7. Table Fellowship

"And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it" - Luke 24:30

they didn't recognize him until the breaking until the blessing until familiar hands made sacred gestures over ordinary bread and maybe that's why I'm learning to slow down at my own table to let each meal become a possibility for recognition for eyes opening for "isn't this the One who feeds us still?" in every shared bite every savored moment every "thank you" whispered over soup growing cold

8. Sabbath Sustenance

"And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath" - Exodus 16:23

no gathering today no anxious reaching for tomorrow's portion just this meal this moment this rhythm of rest even in eating especially in eating letting each bite be a sabbath unto itself unhurried, unworried trusting that provision comes not from my striving but from the One who spreads tables in wilderness places and calls us to sit and taste the goodness of not having to earn our daily bread