2 posts tagged “open table”
It's been some time since I forced myself to blog, so I figure now it is about time. I've had the idea of writing a brief explanation of photos I take and place on my facebook page as my "profile picture." I'll start with the current, and update you as I change. When possible, I'll try to go back through some of the photos I have taken.
They are, in many ways, a record of being "on pilgrimage", and a practice of "holy lingering" - moments of peeking in an empty tomb.
Well, I did not take this photo - someone took it at our regional Confirmation services at St. Peter's in Honolulu. I can't recall his name, but will try to add it here soon, because he took some wonderful photos.
This was an intimate moment - each moment between me and another person, when we are sharing Eucharist, is a moment of holy intimacy; a moment of tenderness. No borders, no distinctions or differences that animate a difference. Only a holy connection between two hands touching the same chalice, drinking from the same cup. "It has become for us the cup of salvation."
There is a paradox between fullness and emptiness in the Christian faith. Both are powerful metaphors for our spiritual life.
The empty tomb is the fullness of God's grace.
The emptiness of space is profound to me when I look out at the ocean and see to the horizon, especially when there are no ships or oil rigs punctuating the view. Yet, when I consider the depths and their fullness, the vast seas and the weight of the waters in them, I recall that fullness of God's love encompasses both the vastness and depth - neither height nor depth can separate us from the love of God.
I've blogged before on baptism and water. That we can "take" instead of "receive" communion and our abuse of the earth's resources, including water - I've linked these with increasingly negative view of baptism (or people's reticence to receive baptism) and the arguments for an open table. Today, as many of us are blogging about the Millennium Development Goals, I would like to bring up this conversation once again, because we as Christians can easily be caught in a trap of consumerism in our liturgy, even as we try to argue against that consumerism in our theology.
In the two sacraments, baptism and communion, two of the most fundamental, daily needs are presented: water and food. Jesus was smart, asking us to use these elements to remember him, to come to new life in him, because they are common/daily. They are something he knew we would use, in fact, need, every day. Water and bread.
Ensuring environmental sustainability is a concern for all of us, but Christians have a special interest in the sustainability of our earth's water: Jesus has given us a command to baptize in his name. We should want for every community, every person on the globe to have water in which we ourselves would be willing to be immersed - that we ourselves would be willing to drink. This is is about life, not luxury. This is about life. Isn't that what baptism is supposed to be about?
If we can work to re-emphasize the importance of water to our life and our health, I think we begin to help people understand the relationship of baptism to eucharist. That baptism is about our life and our health, in a joyful and joy-giving way. It is also about a total life commitment, not just a total commitment to life.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings....
