Some reach for the cup
Others open their mouths, faithful that you will tip carefully
Some grasp the bottom of the cup
And control the tip
Some just sip, so timidly that you wonder if they received
Others manhandle the cup and take a significant helping
Some raise their hands for the bread
But many, many leave their hands low
Their hands cupped, almost closed
You must reach down
Reach in
And place the bread inside their hands
Like a seed within a pod
Like a child within a womb
Encourage them to take, to taste
The wine seems more welcome than the bread
Perhaps the wine is like the spirit
The blessings of the spirit
Heady, inspiring, and lifting
And the bread is like the body
Reminding us of our mortality
Of our flesh, and its failings
Of our suffering, of our limitations
Or maybe we want to sense the physicality of the bread
To have it thrust upon us
To have God reach out to us
Touch us in our mortal life
We need the thrust, the touch, the impinging of God upon us
Perhaps this is why
It feels like I must give the bread
But that the wine
People are eager to receive
May you find that God reaches out to you
And that you are much beloved.
-LE
Others open their mouths, faithful that you will tip carefully
Some grasp the bottom of the cup
And control the tip
Some just sip, so timidly that you wonder if they received
Others manhandle the cup and take a significant helping
Some raise their hands for the bread
But many, many leave their hands low
Their hands cupped, almost closed
You must reach down
Reach in
And place the bread inside their hands
Like a seed within a pod
Like a child within a womb
Encourage them to take, to taste
The wine seems more welcome than the bread
Perhaps the wine is like the spirit
The blessings of the spirit
Heady, inspiring, and lifting
And the bread is like the body
Reminding us of our mortality
Of our flesh, and its failings
Of our suffering, of our limitations
Or maybe we want to sense the physicality of the bread
To have it thrust upon us
To have God reach out to us
Touch us in our mortal life
We need the thrust, the touch, the impinging of God upon us
Perhaps this is why
It feels like I must give the bread
But that the wine
People are eager to receive
May you find that God reaches out to you
And that you are much beloved.
-LE
2 comments:
Very thoughtful; and it does echo my experience of how people react somewhat differently to bread and wine. Jesus must have had something in mind in giving us both...
I always wondered what it felt like from the priest's perspective dispensing the host. It must be incredibly powerful. Certainly you could make a case for the whole transfiguration thing. Keep growing in spirituality and in Christ.
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