Grace Before Meals

First, the photograph grabbed me. Then the caption grabbed me more: Grace before meals.

I echoed to myself what advertising people say when they see a great ad concept, Why didn't I think of that before?

It's one of the many surprising photos with as many surprising captions taken/captioned by my friend and former colleague in the ad industry, creative guru Mario, and posted on his FB wall. 

I often talk about advertising as though I am still in it, instead of having left it over a decade ago. People therefore quip, “You must miss advertising!”

“The work, no. But the people, yes.” 

Advertising people always make the usual so unusual, the ordinary so extraordinary.  They find fascination in the insignificant and make it important. They find humor where there is none.

People say ad people doing creative work are weird. Well, if weird means unforgettable and intrusive, then the answer is “yes.”  

This weirdness is nurtured to make old ideas fresh again and drab thoughts sparkling again.

I asked Mario if I could borrow the above photo for my blog. He readily said, “Yes.” I chose it from among over several dozens of his captioned photographs because . . . one guess, it comes with the word “grace.”

And anything that speaks of grace has an invisible velcro that attaches itself to what  I write about.

"He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.'”  Luke 22:19 (NLT)

P.S.

Here's what G. K. Chesterton had to say about grace before meals: 

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”  

Amen.