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Our faith journey is filled with symbols. Jesus used a symbolic action to
share a really important lesson with his disciples. He did this by using the
very common practice of a shared meal. During their last meal, he took bread,
broke it, and told this, "This is my body broken for you. Eat this in
remembrance of me." After supper, he took a cup of wine and told this, "This is
my blood shed for you. Drink this in remembrance of me." There were two messages
for the disciples and two messages for us as well.
The first message was that we are in communion-one with God, the mystical
power of the universe. The acceptance we crave is already given. The excuse of
unworthiness is smoke. We are one with God just as Jesus was one with God. Our
calling to act in love is not to gain acceptance or forgiveness or to find the
reconciliation we desperately seek. That is already given! Our calling is to
discover, to wake up to, the life of God that is in our midst, but often
overlooked. In that Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples that, even though he
would soon be leaving them, they would always be one because they shared a
common life in God's life. They would always be in community, in
communion.
The second message was that the way to heaven-that is, participation in
the life of God within and among us now-lies along the same way that Jesus
walked. That way can involve sacrifice, grief, and loss. It requires taking some
risk, acing with courage, and accepting some challenges. Jesus told his
disciples that they shared the life of God. We share it, too. But the cost of
that shared life us to share his brokenness. They would have to drink from same
cup as Jesus was drinking
As we eat bread and drink the cup of communion-regardless of our
religious affiliation-we have an opportunity to remember the shared life we have
with all persons in God always and eternally. The cost of participating in this
community is the full measure of love, the total commitment of our lives to the
life of God around us and within us-between us here and now and always.
Thanks for continuing
to bless me as we journey together. --Jack F. Price DMin, MA,
MM
FYI - Jack has published several articles at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jack_F_Price
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