I used to eat on the fly, distracted and preoccupied. I ate without being there. I stared at a screen or a newspaper or the words on the back of a cereal box. It felt efficient. I thought that stopping to eat was a waste of time.
Now, instead of grabbing food on the run while I do something else, I practice simply eating. I sit down at the table. I say grace. I am present. I pay attention. I savor the tastes and textures and colors. I look out the window. I watch the squirrels play. I let my imagination play. Simply eating doesn't take long, and it doesn't waste any time at all.
"O God, who clothes the lilies and feeds the birds of the sky, . . . do come to our table as guest and giver to dine.” Richard Euringer
“[A]nd he will dine with Me.” Revelations 3:20