I often make a delicious toor dahl recipe that I got out of a Hare Krishna cookbook. In addition to recipes the book also offers suggestions on meal preparation, dining etiquette and general tips on living a Hare Krishna lifestyle. One of the suggestions is that before each meal is served, you offer a portion to Krishna and give Krishna thanks. This seemed to be a small thing to ask, and frequently, with a light-hearted grin, either Butterfly or I will pause in the midst of our enjoyment and utter, “Mmmmm, thank you Krishna.”

That was all well and good until one day when we were enjoying a rotisserie chicken. After a few succulent bites I offered a “thank you Krishna” and Butterfly rightfully noted that perhaps Krishna was not the best entity to give thanks to in this instance.

The next day I received this playful e-mail (no offense intended):

Subject: strategy for grace before meals

Indian food/lentil soup = thank you Krishna because we got the lovely recipe book from the Hare Krishna’s

Fish = thank you Jesus - for obvious reasons - feeding the masses with five fish or was it three? And of course that’s his sign - the fish symbol

Lamb= thank you (catholic) Jesus because Jesus is the Lamb of God and the Catholics are very serious about digesting the body of Christ

Veggies/fruit/whole grains=thank you pagan earth mother goddess for the fruits of her labour [sic - - butterfly is a bit on the British side linguistically, mind you]

For that almost hungry empty feeling = thank you Buddha

For that overstuffed angry feeling=thank you Mohammed

Chicken = unsure; thank the chicken