finding meaning

This past Saturday my church family participated in the age old sacrament of sharing in what's called the Lord's Supper. I've often mused and wondered what makes this so significant. How am I supposed to feel from this activity? What difference does this make to me or God? Am I supposed to feel really bad about my sins? Am I supposed to try to scan my life for stuff I can improve on (don't have to scan too deep for this)? I often end up feeling like I should be generating some sort of feelings (cause I don't have them) that are spiritual and sacred.

This week I sensed a possible breakthrough. I've been thinking a lot lately about the purpose of the people of God being to bless the world around us and to watch for opportunities to cast the vision of God's world made perfect (evangelizing about the coming Kingdom restored).

I've felt for a while that the Lord's Supper and Footwashing (a practice my church observes prior to sharing the Lord's Supper based on Jesus washing His disciple's feet) are nothing more than rituals and ceremonies.

I think that ritual and ceremony are for both remembering and imagining? We remember our heritage for the purpose of living in the present. This requires imagination. We have to wrestle with current realities in our world while we remember our historical stories and imagine better futures.

This weekend I asked myself, "What does the communion service have to do with blessing our world"? So, I challenged church members to use the foot washing ritual as a time to imagine specific ways that we can serve and bless our community this week.

During the Lord's supper, I again challenged people to imagine that this bread is not the body of Christ. We are! The bread is only part of the body of Christ as it becomes part of us. Maybe then, the Lord's supper can simply be another imagination catalyst for what it means to truly BE the body of Christ in our world. Or, simply a time to share ways we've been practicing serving our world. Or maybe even just shareing ways that we see Christ's life becoming evident in our local society, not just our church family.

The interesting thing about human nature is that when we do things together (especially acts of service) our capacity to be closer and more intimate is heightened. My wife and I often attribute certain elements of our friendship to the fact that we enjoying doing lots of different things together. It's after doing things together, that our friendship is strengthened and we have lots to share and talk about.

Could it be that the Church can truly commune together around Christ's life only as we practice being the Body of Christ in our communities and cultures?

In short, maybe the rituals of Footwasing and Communion have deeper meaning if they're focused not so much on our own personal spirituality, but on being a blessing to others.