I had a realization when I was talking to Joyce about my adventures (and misadventures) in procuring bread to use for LOFT communion tomorrow. I had to call a few places, drive farther than I really needed to because I called the wrong D&W, just to get the right kind of bread to break for the sacrament. She asked "isn't it just bread?" and I explained that it had to look right and be break-able and not taste funny (I find it disconcerting when the Body of Christ broken for me is unexpectedly sourdough or dill or something). She said now she's going to be thinking about this conversation when she's trying to take communion tomorrow.
I thought about that some more (I felt a little bad) and realized that I like that the sacrament is so connected with normal life. That somehow me running all over town and asking around to find the right thing and trying to carry all of it into the chapel at once and find a place for it in the kitchen is a part of it. It's God's Grace in the middle of our daily life. Of our eating and drinking and community, most explicitly. But also in our running errands and preparing for worship and trying to show God's Grace to others. Sacraments are supposed to show us God's grace in our everyday lives, remind us that God's grace is already in our everyday lives. Today that found me in an unexpected way.
About Me
- bethany
- I'm a Professor of Communication. I tend to blog about these things: christianity, politics, culture, academia, art, writing, music, and things I read.
5 comments:
I read your poem in Dialogue and I said, "Oh that's so cute and so Bethany!" I also heard that you're a good friend of God. Congradulations :)
I just saw your bread in the chapel kitchen and I approve it. And this message.
James
But at the end of LOFT, when Aaron came up and took all the bread away immediately, I was very sad. Why did he have to steal all the communion bread? I was going to bring a hunk home to my housemates, as a sign of fellowship (a la Eastern Orthodox). Oh well. And where were you then?
mmm, communion bread. because of the bread we use, i often think of jesus as "sweet hawaiian christ."
At Tribe we sometimes have different bread every week... sometimes it's sourdough, sometimes a crown, once it even had olives. Generally it's whatever the person getting our Eucharist gets that week. We also share the remainder of the bread and wine after the service, partly as a symbol of fellowship but partly because we're all usually hungry by that point...
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