Communion used to be a guilt-fest.
Why Holy Meals can bring the sense of belonging we long for.
Communion used to be a guilt-fest. A heavy, dark reminder of all I’d done to put Jesus on the Cross. Don’t get me wrong, I’m guilty as hell. But what got discarded was the idea that the Eucharist could be a bonding experience. If what we’re all looking for is secure attachment, what the bible calls, “hesed” love, then the Lord’s Table is the perfect invitation to that experience.
Did you know that we bond to the person who feeds us? 1. Food and attachment are linked. What if the Eucharist meal is an opportunity to receive attachment love; to strengthen our felt-sense of security in God? The “hesed” (loyal commitment) of God is no where present more than it is at the Communion Table.
“In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” —Luke 22:20
“New Covenant” means New Belonging. New Covenant means New Security. New Covenant means New Bonding.
Remembering and Re-membering Jesus
Every breaking of bread is an incarnation. Jesus’ body is re-membered, re-created, reproduced each time we “eat his flesh and drink his blood.” It is an ingesting of Jesus that allows us to irrefutably bond with him; a mutual indwelling. We must be careful not to be too metaphorical about this. Incarnation isn’t metaphorical. It’s embodied declaration. An actual entwining of body, soul and mind occurs at the Table. We eat the bread of bonding and drink the cup of belonging.
When I moved away from Florida, I left behind my favorite coffee house, and some of my favorite people. As a remembrance, they all signed the coffee mug I used daily at the coffee bar. I’d come so often that I kept my own mug behind the counter. That mug is my cup of belonging to them.
1. Dr. Jim Wilder, neurobiologist and theologian