Had an interesting experience.
I live with my Christian family, but don't often eat with them. My mother invited me to join them for dinner, and I gratefully accepted.
My family always prayed to the Christian god before meals, per the Christian custom, just like they faithfully attended church every Sunday and gave praise and offerings (of money) there. Myself, having recently come into a new shade of my pagan path, I was looking forward to the mealtime prayer as an opportunity to actively thank whatever I was eating and appreciate all the energy and life that went into it. In this case, it was potatoes, corn, and beef, which were very easy to offer thanks to. I feel that acknowledging what I am eating and thanking it's spirit and having an attitude of gratitude is the least I can do for these literal living things that involuntarily died and passed on their energy to sustain my own life force. They could have had any other fate, but instead, these particular potatoes and corn kernels and slices of beef came to me, so why on earth not be grateful to them?
I was highly disappointed and a little taken aback when my very Christian mother, with her many Bible-verse wall hangings and cross decorations and strict rules of church attendance (at least when I was a child), did not offer a prayer of thanks to her god. I'm sure the delicious dinner blessed her body all the same, but it struck me as odd that this woman who always managed to appear holy in public was unbothered to toss aside a simple ritual she made me believe was of the outmost importance as a child. Meanwhile, I cared little how my practices appeared to the public, in fact endeavoring I don't draw too much attention to myself with my offerings, burnt herbs, antlers, drum and singing, but some things just can't be replaced (and I'm certainly not posting my practices on social media nor inviting others to watch). Integrity, how you behave when no one is watching to scrutinize your actions, is a key part of any spirituality or religion. If you can't carry out your faith and beliefs in solitude, in your home, even with a scowl, why perform them in public?
