Friends of ours have three sons. As members of a Protestant church, our friends felt that their two oldest boys were able to understand the concepts behind the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion. After serious discussions with their sons about communion, they decided that the boys could join the rest of the congregation and partake in the Lord’s Supper. They assumed that their youngest son, Kyle, wouldn’t understand, so they told him that he should stay in the pew and that they would be right back. Kyle, who had evidently been listening when his parents were preparing his brothers to take the sacrament, looked at his mother with tears in his eyes and gave the most beautiful reason of all that he should be allowed to participate as well: “But, Mama, I love Jesus, too.”
When Kyle’s mom told me this story, I realized that Kyle was probably more worthy of taking communion that Sunday than I was. So often my pre-communion, pre-church meditation is not spent immersed in love for my Lord, but in worrying about my choir song, or about the weather, or in reviewing my week’s schedule, or wondering how my clothes look… Aarrgghhh!
We continue the tradition of sharing the bread and the wine in remembrance of Jesus Christ – of His life, His death, His resurrection. Not in remembrance of my schedule, my problems, my needs, or my fears. Because all those things grow very dim in the light of the love it took for Jesus to die on the cross and thus open a gateway for us into heaven.
When it is my privilege to take communion, I pray that my meditation will echo Kyle’s heartfelt words, “I love Jesus, too.”
We have many rituals and celebrations that help us worship. What rituals are most meaningful in your spiritual life or do you prefer less formal ways of acknowledging your beliefs?
Featured Photograph courtesy of Jason Nelson.