Communion
I did a directed readings in college on the Lord's Supper.
Communion.
The Eucharist.
I was in awe of its mystery, eager to figure out the facts, the symbolism, the arguments for transubstantiation, what I believed.
I had grown up in a bit of fear--I wasn't baptized, I took Communion anyway. Some people frowned on that.
My grandmother always told me to confess every sin or else I was likely to get sick.
We had it once a quarter at the Methodist church. I was mostly concerned with collecting as many small cups as I could. We would kneel at the altar for the obligatory minute before the next row filed in behind us.
I don't remember ever having the Lord's Supper at the charismatic church.
And once, at home, my brother got out Wonder Bread and Cherry Sprite and my grandmother took pictures to remember how cute it was.
The unusualness of "the body and the blood" was kind of lost on me--a cradle Christian. It wasn't until reading Church History and seeing that the early Christians were called "cannibals," that it finally clicked that the idea of eating the body and blood of Christ--however real or symbolic, is just, well, weird.
I read lots of good books in that class. A book from a Roman Catholic, an Anglican bishop, a Greek Orthodox priest (my favorite, btw: For the Life of the World by Alexander Schmemann). I read about Real Presence, and came to understand the meaning of Communion there--somewhere in between symbolism and transubstantiation.
The Eucharist does nourish our Spirits. Coming to the table to receive the gift of Christ is a real receiving. We walk away with food. Our empty hands were filled.
We are all equal at the table. The ones bestowing the gifts--the vehicles of God's nourishment. All of us who walk up, with cupped hands, to receive. We receive from others every week at our church. And some weeks I'm the one holding the cup, saying the words, "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation."
Today I started thinking about how it still must be odd to outsiders. Definitely a turn-off. How the "body" and the "blood" are uncomfortable terms. Couldn't Jesus have given us something a little more tame to remember him by? Couldn't he have had us eat "bread" and drink "wine" and just remember that it came from him? Couldn't he give us something a little different to satisfy our souls?
But then I thought, what else could satisfy, but him?
Communion.
The Eucharist.
I was in awe of its mystery, eager to figure out the facts, the symbolism, the arguments for transubstantiation, what I believed.
I had grown up in a bit of fear--I wasn't baptized, I took Communion anyway. Some people frowned on that.
My grandmother always told me to confess every sin or else I was likely to get sick.
We had it once a quarter at the Methodist church. I was mostly concerned with collecting as many small cups as I could. We would kneel at the altar for the obligatory minute before the next row filed in behind us.
I don't remember ever having the Lord's Supper at the charismatic church.
And once, at home, my brother got out Wonder Bread and Cherry Sprite and my grandmother took pictures to remember how cute it was.
The unusualness of "the body and the blood" was kind of lost on me--a cradle Christian. It wasn't until reading Church History and seeing that the early Christians were called "cannibals," that it finally clicked that the idea of eating the body and blood of Christ--however real or symbolic, is just, well, weird.
I read lots of good books in that class. A book from a Roman Catholic, an Anglican bishop, a Greek Orthodox priest (my favorite, btw: For the Life of the World by Alexander Schmemann). I read about Real Presence, and came to understand the meaning of Communion there--somewhere in between symbolism and transubstantiation.
The Eucharist does nourish our Spirits. Coming to the table to receive the gift of Christ is a real receiving. We walk away with food. Our empty hands were filled.
We are all equal at the table. The ones bestowing the gifts--the vehicles of God's nourishment. All of us who walk up, with cupped hands, to receive. We receive from others every week at our church. And some weeks I'm the one holding the cup, saying the words, "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation."
Today I started thinking about how it still must be odd to outsiders. Definitely a turn-off. How the "body" and the "blood" are uncomfortable terms. Couldn't Jesus have given us something a little more tame to remember him by? Couldn't he have had us eat "bread" and drink "wine" and just remember that it came from him? Couldn't he give us something a little different to satisfy our souls?
But then I thought, what else could satisfy, but him?
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