Thanking God makes me squirm

Thanking God often makes me squirm. 
Yet I’m regularly called upon to do it in my line of work.

Looking out across a sea of salad and meat, “the Rev” is often expected to thank God for the food before us, and perhaps for the earth from which it came.

But why?

Why would God have given us lunch when we could easily live without it for a day, and when others around the world need it so much more? Is it right to thank God for the death of the pigs and chickens arrayed before me, when I know how much they probably suffered getting there, and doubt that God was pleased about any of it? Should I be thanking God for lettuce trucked 4000km to our table, or juice which comes from South American oranges?

I feel more like I should be apologising. Maybe I could try this prayer at the next gathering I’m invited to:

“Let’s say Grace. God, I’m sorry there is so little grace on this table – so little good will and merciful kindness. Sorry about the cheap battery eggs. Ditto the juicy little veal calves. Sorry about the farmers going broke because these imported oranges are cheaper. Sorry for all the pollution from trucking the bananas down to Sydney and then all the way up here again. 

Sorry for all the pesticides and fertiliser killing the reefs. Sorry about the bits we didn’t manage to wash off that are about to hammer our livers. Sorry we’re apologising to you instead of those we’ve wronged. Sorry chickens. Sorry cows. Sorry farmers. Sorry Earth. Sorry that we’re not likely to do it any different next time, because it’s hard and we’re on a budget. Sorry for being so sorrowful on this happy occasion. So we offer a heartfelt thanks to the people who took the time to lovingly prepare the food, and we are thankful for the time to come together in your presence to enjoy each other’s company.”

Wimp that I am, I usually stick start at the last sentence.

Can we really be thankful, when we continue to trash the gift of Earth God gave us because it’s cheaper and easier than sustaining it?

Is calling the Earth “God’s gift” actually the problem?

The creation story in Genesis 1 - which wraps up with Noah in Genesis 9 - presents humans as the only creature in God’s image, granted dominion over Earth. First the plants are given us for food, and then, through Noah, every living thing is delivered into our hand. Even if we don’t believe the story anymore, many of us have adopted its apparent worldview: our right to dominate the earth.

But this was a story written in captivity, under the thumb of the king of Babylon, who claimed to be in the divine image, and to have dominion over all things and all people. Genesis 1 is a defiant story of human dignity by a defeated and oppressed people. It was written to demote the king of Babylon, not to elevate humans over earth.

The much older tale of humans and earth is Genesis 2. Here God creates an earthling, the Adam, for the sake of the garden which is about to appear. To serve it and protect it. Then this lonely guardian is given the gift of animals, not for food, but for companionship.  

According to Genesis 2, instead of giving thanks at our meals, we should ask whether the earth would be thanking us for the way we gathered our food. We should ask whether the God who created us for the delightful garden instead of the other way around, would thank us for a job well done. Would God say, for example,

“Thanks everyone, this is great, it’s a pleasure to be here amongst you. I loved watching the chooks foraging yesterday, and seeing little Georgie totter down for the eggs this morning. That ham came from a delightful little troublemaker: thankyou for ending his time so quickly. You only just got the lettuce from the community garden in time didn’t you? Summer is such a pest for lettuce. I know you miss the oranges, but you’ll love them all the more when they’re back in season: and don’t the bananas and blueberries smell great! Two four, six, eight- bog in, don’t wait!”

I didn't get back to the, "what does it mean to thank God for this food when so many don't have any?" dilemma.  Does that make anyone else feel uneasy?
Are you a Genesis 1, Genesis 2, or evolutionist kind of earthling?