An appropriate Grace....

[CharlieOneSix]

I was looking for something else on my computer and came across the report I wrote about the reunion weekend on 28 April 2013 that I organised for the survivors of our bunch of civilian misfits who, on their first day in the Royal Navy, 'marched' up the hill from the Kingswear Ferry in the town to the Britannia Royal Naval College on that date in 1963.

At our evening meal one of our number said an appropriate Grace which brought forward much laughter and applause.....

Bless us gathered here, we pray, mindful as we are of the bounteous gifts we received 50 years ago ...... plentiful wholesome fare, and lashings of bromide in the limers; abundant fresh air night and day, wet or dry, with imaginative and diverse opportunities for physical exercise; a wardrobe to die for; a privileged education into the mysteries of such as the Sidereal Hour Angle and the procedure for “Catting the Anchor”; wise, avuncular and be-medalled staff, ever-present, and steadfast in their conviction that we were the lowest form of marine life in that world of river and ramps and rollickings. And that precious time allowed for our chosen charitable work, distributing much of our meagre pay generously among the needy landlords and innkeepers of Dartmouth and beyond. Bless our company and the comradeship forged in those far off days, bless our ladies and in particular those here present who face the prospect of our interminable reminiscences; bless our food and those who have prepared and will serve it, and know that for these and all Your gifts we are most truly grateful. Amen

Jim might approve..

[jimtherev]

Greatly appreciated, but I would personally steer clear of something so carefully composed, on account of the fear of losing
my script or
my glasses or
my memory.

I tend to use rather simpler stuff: indeed, the more important the occasion, the simpler I aim to be.
A favourite:
Good folk!
Good meat!
Good God!
Let's eat!
AMEN

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

OC XI was in the habit of randomly calling on any member of the company at Dinner to provide a Grace.
One needed a sensible one and an amusing one memorised, depending on the formality of the Dinner.
I can now only remember my amusing one.

If all be true that I do think,
There are five reasons we should drink
Good wine, a friend, or being dry,
Or lest we should be by and by,
Or any other reason why
Amen

I think it's 17th Century.

After the loyal toast, he would generally call for three amusing stories at random.
One had to remember three, in case one was thrid called and the other two had used the first two.

The funniest I remember was by a young Naval Officer, who in complete seriousness but with perfect comic timing said

Thank.....God

[ricardian]

I was looking for something else on my computer and came across the report I wrote about the reunion weekend on 28 April 2013 that I organised for the survivors of our bunch of civilian misfits who, on their first day in the Royal Navy, 'marched' up the hill from the Kingswear Ferry in the town to the Britannia Royal Naval College on that date in 1963.
At our evening meal one of our number said an appropriate Grace which brought forward much laughter and applause.....

Bless us gathered here, we pray, mindful as we are of the bounteous gifts we received 50 years ago ...... plentiful wholesome fare, and lashings of bromide in the limers; abundant fresh air night and day, wet or dry, with imaginative and diverse opportunities for physical exercise; a wardrobe to die for; a privileged education into the mysteries of such as the Sidereal Hour Angle and the procedure for “Catting the Anchor”; wise, avuncular and be-medalled staff, ever-present, and steadfast in their conviction that we were the lowest form of marine life in that world of river and ramps and rollickings. And that precious time allowed for our chosen charitable work, distributing much of our meagre pay generously among the needy landlords and innkeepers of Dartmouth and beyond. Bless our company and the comradeship forged in those far off days, bless our ladies and in particular those here present who face the prospect of our interminable reminiscences; bless our food and those who have prepared and will serve it, and know that for these and all Your gifts we are most truly grateful. Amen

Jim might approve..

I found this lurking on my hard disk, it's an extended version of the Selkirk Grace but I have no idea of its origin:

Some hae meat and canna eat
And some wad eat that want it:
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

But some hate meat and girn and pleep,
Resisting all coercion.
So bless the tatties, bless the neeps
And the vegetarian version.

Then filled wi’ fruits o’ field and vine
And feelin' fairly frisky,
The One who water turned to wine
We’d ask to bless the whisky.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Lord, all praise be thine
For turning water into wine.
Please forgive us simple men
Who try to turn it back again.

[PHXPhlyer]

Raised in a Baptist household ie. Teetotalers, I asked my mother why Baptists couldn't drink even though Jesus turned water into wine for a wedding reception.
Her response: "Well, their wasn't very drinkable".

On that subject... If Jesus' carpentry career or Savior gig hadn't worked out he would have made a good caterer, turning water into wine and the loaves and fishes trick.
Also as a party entertainer...Walking on water, raising the dead, healing the sick, etc.

PP

[Karearea]

Raised in a Baptist household ie. Teetotalers, I asked my mother why Baptists couldn't drink even though Jesus turned water into wine for a wedding reception.
Her response: "Well, their wasn't very drinkable".
...

Actually,

“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

(John 2:10)

[PHXPhlyer]

Raised in a Baptist household ie. Teetotalers, I asked my mother why Baptists couldn't drink even though Jesus turned water into wine for a wedding reception.
Her response: "Well, their water wasn't very drinkable".
...

Actually,

“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

(John 2:10)

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