Bread, Body, Spirit: Finding the Sacred in Food by Alice Peck

Introduction     xi
The Garden: Acts of Faith     1
Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi: The Blossom Gives Way to the Fruit     6
Meister Eckhart: The Seed of God     7
Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis: Food as Sacrament     8
The Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows: Lemon Love     12
Alison Luterman: Every Piece of Fruit     15
Kahlil Gibran: Speak to Us of Eating and Drinking     16
Fish, Fowl, Flesh: Acknowledging Responsibility     19
A Native American Blessing: Sacrifice     24
From the Taittiriya Upanishad: Cycle     25
Nancy Willard: A Wreath to the Fish     26
Betty Fussell: On Murdering Eels and Laundering Swine     28
Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi: Are They Kosher?     34
Barbara Kingsolver: Free Breakfast     36
Jane Goodall: Tale of the Giveaway Buffalo     38
Matthew 26:26: Blessing     41
Michael Benedikt: The Beef Epitaph     42
Barbara Tanner Angell: Deer Season     44
Cooking: Taking Action     47
Edward Espe Brown: How Could I Have Ever Known It Would Be Like This?     51
Julius Lester: Braiding Challah     53
Mary Beth Crain: Food and God: Cooking as a Spiritual Calling     54
Lama Surya Das: Keep Cooking     61
Bernard Glassman and Rick Fields: Flour, Water, and Determination     62
Serving: Nurturing     65
Buddhist Meal Gatha     69
Martin Buber: His Table an Altar     70
Brother Lawrence: Love Is Everything     71
Guru Gobind Singh: To Feed a Hungry Mouth Is to Feed the Guru     72
Diane Ackerman: Accepting     73
Zen Master Eihei Dogen: How to Share All Offerings     74
Jacqueline Kramer: Warm Sweet Milk     76
Amanda Cook: Sugar-Frosted Memories     79
Eating: Being Present     85
Karyn D. Kedar: There Is Nothing More Profound     90
Julia S. Kasdorf: Onion, Fruit of Grace     91
Wendell Berry: The Pleasures of Eating     92
Marc David: How We Eat     96
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei: Just Enough     98
Bich Minh Nguyen: The Plum's Eye     104
Fasts: Letting Go     109
Omid Safi: Ramadan, Date Omelets, and Global Compassion     113
Rabbi Irwin Kula and Vanessa L. Ochs: A Meditation on Fasting     116
Ram Dass: Stuffing Our Egos     117
Helen Nearing: Casting Off His Body     119
Rabi'a al-`Adawiyya: Miracle Onion     122
Jessica Swift: I Can Eat Chocolate for Breakfast     123
Feasts: Reaping     125
Rabbi Rami Shapiro: Heaven and Hell     129
Diana Abu-Jaber: I've Heard Angels at Dinner     130
Lynne Meredith Schreiber: Inheriting the Earth     134
Mary Rose O'Reilley: Key Lime Pie     138
Joan Chittister, osb: Table Fellowship     140
Compost: No Beginning and No End     143
The Qur'an 6:141: He Does Not Love the Wasters     147
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki: A Worm in the Rice     148
Taittiriya Upanishad Part III: Food Is God     149
Kristen Wolf: The Parable of the Squash     150
Haven Kimmel: Diner     155
Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon: One Beautiful Meal     160
Grace: Communion     163
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji: The Path     167
Laurie Colwin: Feeding the Multitudes     168
Lawrence Raab: Since You Asked     172
Elias Canetti: Potlatch     174
Lynn L. Caruso: Communion     175
Sara Miles: Crossing II     176
Grace Paley: Peacemeal     179
Mary Oliver: Rice     181
Ways to Share Your Meal      183
Acknowledgments     185
Credits     187
About the Contributors     191