My experience of the communion celebration varies from one occasion to another; sometimes because of the form it takes (served at railing by officiants, individual portions passed from plate across all pews, tearing own piece of bread to dip into wine, rustic or camping experience of make-shift elements). Other times it is not the form it takes or the setting in which conducted, but rather depends on the focus or lack-of-focus in my own mind.
Today I was mindful of several things - the symbolism of the purpley-red juice pressed from grapes (blood as God's; not to be shed by men; something polluting and also sacred; the thing that stands for Christ's living force that was given for all of us), but also the natural beauty and living fruit of the farmer's hand (that synthetic juice would never be as rich and deep as the real thing created from grape, soil, sun and water), as well as being mindful of the humble heart of the recipient of this wonderful creation of God's world held her in the small plastic cup before me. On other occasions different facets of the celebration are foremost in my mind; for example, the preamble words that hearken back to the original communion feast in the Upper Room, the many sided ways that communion is carried out in the many denominations, languages and periods of history among the great and the small. Still other prominent themes that have come into my mind at other times include the awareness of the utter humility with which one should accept the unconditional love carried in the communion action 2000 years (100 generations?) ago; or the specific worries or burdens one may have on a given occasion for things past or things impending.
No matter the particular mix of motives and attention brought to the taking of the elements, those same words and actions have the power to take on different meanings, time after time.
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