I took Communion yesterday...like most Sundays.
It's the culmination of the worship service, it's a sacrament, it's supper in the presence of God...God to "whom all desires are known and from whom no secrets are hid." It's the one opportunity in the week to focus on the eternal and stop fighting the mind...what's the point?
Well it only takes about half a second to realize why I keep my mind in a head lock most of the time.
I know some of you don't believe any of this but, just play along with me...what would you think about if you were in presence of God?
You probably wouldn't be worried about whether you had sat on something that morning. We sit in the back and usually most the congregation is seated again by the time we're up waiting to approach the alter...it's even worse, like yesterday when I'm an usher, and one of the last people to go up. Everybody is looking at your backside. Of course, they almost certainly are not but, this is the silly crap that goes through my mind sometimes..is there a giant piece of lent or string hanging off the back of my trousers or worse did I get powdered sugar all over the car seat when I stopped for donuts?
Worst of all...I sometimes have these stupid thoughts at the alter. Dumbest of all, and it's happens more often then I care to admit...I worry that if I don't get that wafer swallowed I'm going to back wash crumbs into the chalice!
I admitted this to Martha yesterday,
"...do you know what I mean?"
She looked at me like I had a peanut bush growing out the top of my head.
"I mean..you know...I worry about it sometimes...you know because I'm so so focused on...you know..."
"That is disgusting!"
Of course Martha never worries about such things. It would be impossible for her to do anything so uncouth even on accident...but, I guarantee she'll be peeking in that Cup before she drinks from it from here on out.
Not only am I an imbecile but, it's contagious. Sorry Martha.
Nothing for it. You're going to have to take a tea-strainer with you next time and put it over your mouth before you drink. It's the only solution.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of folks from church that are regular readers. They may present me with one next Sunday :).
ReplyDeleteI just want to be clear about this...It has never happened.
I wonder if you are at the back of the queue, how much is actually back-wash by that point?
ReplyDeleteThe point of this post was supposed to be about the mundane things that pop into my mind even at the most sacred moment...it's human.
ReplyDeletePredictably...,with encouragement of our irreverent readership, I'm just wanting to crack jokes now.
Stop it.
:)
To be fair, I was just hoping to have you stood there in line next Sunday, mulling over whether you might come eyeball to eyeball with a pensioners greeny when you peer over that cup rim. Your welcome.
ReplyDeleteThis thread has gone horribly wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou made a small typo: It should be "lint" not "lent". However, if it was hanging off your trousers between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, I think you're ok with either spelling.
ReplyDeleteSuzy aka Jicky
Ha ha...thanks for moving this thing in another...any other...direction.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blog Suzy...don't be a stranger.
Meister Eckhart talks about Godhead - the manifestation of God - which I like to think of as the “fountain” or “source” from which all flows; flows in the sense of participation: an awareness of the oneness that embraces the duality of subject and object - “I am the way”. Eckhart is often referred to as a “Christian mystic”; however, one should not confused “mystic” with one who prone to mystification - obfuscation - rather, one who appreciates and abides in the mystery of existence, not as a puzzle, but as something to be appreciated and embraced, as, what we are is also what it is also. The questions, “What is the world?” and “What am I?” are not mutually exclusive. (“The dude abides.” - The Big Lebowski - we are the world and it is us.)Which brings me to the “Eucharistic” or “Holy Communion” - and I preface my remarks here by declaring no affiliation to any particular religion, doctrine or ideology - which I believe to be a ritual with a profound and original intent that is not merely metaphorical, but an acknowledgement - albeit a highly stylised nod to - of the actual; the actuality; the real. My understanding of transubstantiation - the transformation of bread and wine to the flesh and blood of Christ (not the person “Jesus”, rather the embodiment of God - “Godhead”) in the ingesting of these “earthly” stuffs, they are consciously and purposefully joined to us in the act of consumption – transformed; “become one”. The eater is often forgotten in the act of eating. That is why the ritual of “saying grace” - such a beautiful notion - was established, to remind oneself, and each other, that we are not merely physical actions; let not our passions consume us as we consume; are consuming. In being is consummate. The problem with such notions embodied in the acts of “Grace” and “Communion” is that, by familiarity of habit and ritual - familiarity breeds contempt and, eventually, forgetfulness - their purpose has been worn thread thin by mechanical or obligatory repetition. Consider: the act of defecation and micturition was also considered as holy by the some Zen Buddhists.
ReplyDeleteNow you're earnin' your money.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding.
Glad to see you back around.
I hope that since the Lord created us, He is fully aware of how our minds work, and that He takes that into consideration when our thoughts wander at "inopportune" moments.
ReplyDeletePS. I am totally grateful that the congregation we attend uses the little bitty individual cups rather than the community challis. I always worried about what might be going back in (food, germs...nothing like hearing Brother So-and-so coughing right before he takes a sip, etc) when I attended a congregation that used the challis.
This is one I probably should have kept to myself :).
ReplyDeleteI'm certain Martha (my wife) is now petrified of the whole process.
I love the Challis though...the whole ritual and my mind doesn't always wander to my own backside :0.
Welcome to Flimsy Cups Jennifer...make yourself at home.