A Moment of Transport

This morning's Holy Communion transported me from the Table in the room to the one in heaven.  It took me away from the gathering of the saints in the sanctuary to the communion of the saints described in the book of Hebrews.  As if the place where I was kneeling was not holy enough, I found myself in an even holier place as memories took hold.  As I saw families gathering together around the Table to receive the Holy Sacrament, my spirit was flooded with memories of last communions.  

Being a pastor for a life time put me in the privileged places of offering the holy meal to the people of God.  It also provided me the the blessing of offering my Mother and my Dad their last communion.  Mom's was at the end of 2019 and Dad's was toward the end of 2023.  As I broke the bread and shared the cup in those moments, I was somehow aware that the next time we gathered for the holy meal it would be in the eternal place.  As I sat there in the quiet moments of waiting for others to move to the Table, those memories for some reason overwhelmed me to the point of tears.   There are times when we are aware that we are sharing last moments with someone we love, but most of the time we only realize it through the window of hindsight.  

The writer of Hebrews reminds us to "...pay greater attention..." (Hebrews 2:1). He was speaking about what we have heard as the message of Jesus, but it is also a phrase which tells us how to live in each day and in each moment.  We can never be sure exactly how God is blessing us in what seems to us to be such ordinary moments in our life.  The important thing is to live each moment, share each experience, and to give and receive love as if it is the last time such a moment will come to us.  Surely, it is true that paying greater attention to what is happening now in our life will bring us to moments of greater gratitude for the blessings of grace be given to us.