Process

Well, robert. i needed to see this page for myself and felt deeply urged to respond to your snippets.it always feels good when someone replies, doesn’t it?

speaking of communion.

the eucharist, that term in and of itself, is a foreign ambiguous expereince for most people. blogs don’t offer enough space to delve into the historical causes for such a contemporary ignorance. still, i guess it needs being said that we are a people who don’t understand MEANING when it comes to church matters. don’t you find it strange that in every OTHER element of the american experience that we can see behind the symbols of an event and realize the meaning present.

what i mean is: if you were to ask someone what they thought of a gift they got for christmas then most people would be able to describe the giver, and the contextual significance of the gift. they might even follow up (if they are questioned to do so) by adding what role this gift can play in the rest of their life. really, thats the reason they wanted it. they felt like the gift (whatever it might be) will help them throughout their life’s journey. when we eat the FEAST however, no one seems to be concerned with the role it plays for the corporate body. for most today, it is merely a time to reflect and resolve whatever immoral deeds one participated in the night before. then we proceed to relish in the goodness of a clean slate (so miy guilt won’t continue the insomia) provided by a bland cracker and some juice. then the cups are discared and we survive the next two months without it.

well, tell them this. tell them the truth. this meal, this body, is our primary act of political/social/moral/etc.. alegiance to a king. it is an act that is not solitary…for neither is the “pledge of allegiance” or our social security cards. each week at football games we participate in collective liturgies and freely submit our personal dignity by chanting “DEFENSE” (with angry eyes and salivating mouths). we are fashioned by the athletic chant itself and become “fans” in that moment. the next day at church we fail to see that when we eat the meal, we sacrifice our lives and say to our King, “may we too bleed for you and in this taking we claim our allegiance. we glory in the perefecting of your bride.” we most certinaly fail to see that this practice has anything to do with how much we align ourselves with capitalistic, exploitative industry! Ne’r will we preach that eating this means that one cannot serve two masters at once! imagine how upset some people might be, may we neever disrupt the masses…

the meal is so dynamic and has vast implications. it is not merely implications that can be explained by prose but they are acted out implications. when we eat the meal, we eat with the world. no global effort to homogenize people can ever…EVER sustain a universal body the way this measley old juice and crackers can.

wake up church. this is our story. this is our life.