Memory - Dwelling Spaces

Sunday 28 February 2016

Memory

Communion captivates me. How does a simple act of sharing bread and wine become a tradition that stretches across 2000 years and to the end of the world? In 100 generations and in 200 countries or more, a meal I share now has given life and meaning to those who have become my brothers and sisters in part through this meal we share. The traditions are varied, the meanings attached to it rich and deep, but at the heart is memory, remembrance. 

Why was it that Jesus didn't spend His life writing a book? Distilling the wisdom of God through a human mind, the actual words of God. Plenty of people were writing things down then. So why did He just leave us with a verbal record repeated on the tongues of those who journeyed with Him, and this action of breaking bread and drinking wine? Maybe it's because we are not meant to follow a set of rules, but are meant to be in relationship. Figuring out our faithful following of Jesus together. Seeing what it means to be part of His story today, but in a way that remembers who is at the centre. 'This bread is my body, this wine is my blood' are words that place us into the presence of Jesus, at dinner with His friends. Both a memory and the now, a constant thread through the fabric of time and space.

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