My Mother called to ask me if I could remember how this verse (which the minister in the church I grew up in used during Communion) went. I couldn't remember exactly, but found this on the web:

Be gentle when you touch bread
Let it not lie uncared for--unwanted
So often bread is taken for granted
There is so much beauty in bread
Beauty of sun and soil, beauty of honest toil
Winds and rain have caressed it,
Christ often blessed it
Be gentle when you touch bread.

One place I found it attributed it to David Adam, which (from his Wikipedia entry) seems pretty probable--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Adam
but I'd like to confirm. Anyone know if it is his?

It appeared in "The Open Gate" by David Adam, and he cites it as a "Celtic Prayer".
Ben Hur Lampman printed this poem before David Adam, and its author remains unknown.
Nice little poem.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: thenostromo,

Interesting. It somehow doesn't have the feel of folk material, and it is odd that a Celtic poem would show up for the first time in Oregon. . .and the next time in Northumbria. I've pointed my mother (and anyone else in her church, which used to be mine, who is interested in the chase) towards this thread. Jon, thanks (as always) for your help!

I know this one as it is sometimes used at church, but does anyone know the other one about wine?

FranzH:
I know there was a companion piece on wine that same minister used, but I can't for the life of me remember any of it--do you have a phrase? That might help trigger memory.

Interesting that I didn't find this before. Apparently it's all one poem. The rest is:
Be loving when you drink wine,
So freely received and joyfully shared
in the spirit of him who cared;
Warm as a flowing river,
Shining as clear as the sun,
Deep as the soil
Of human toil,
The winds and air caressed it,
Christ often blessed it,
Be loving when you drink wine.
Poem about bread and wine

You da bomb, thenostromo! Not the verse I encountered, but that particular minister tended to. . .mix and match/edit to make it work. But I hope this is what FranzH is looking for, and thank you for the effort!