A Moment of Blessing

One of the striking things about the worship I experienced yesterday at a local Episcopal Church was the obvious value placed on the Holy Sacrament.  While I knew this tradition is more Table centered than my own denomination, I was still surprised that the Sacrament was offered during this memorial service on a Thursday afternoon. When I was growing up, Communion was offered quarterly and only during my ministry did that practice change to every first Sunday.  

However, there are many churches within the Protestant community who might offer it quarterly, or on Christmas Eve, or maybe, not at all.  One of the things I remember about the years of ministry was an awareness that some folks intentionally stayed home on designated Communion Sundays because, "it wasn't real church."  Even today when the Sacrament is offered, it is more like an afterthought done as quickly as possible to accommodate the hurried mentality of those who come to worship.  Offering the Sacrament midst a long ritual would be unheard of in many of the churches which adorn the landscape of our lives.  

I wish our tradition was more like what I experienced yesterday. The Table was slowly and reverently prepared as we watched, the liturgy was read without any sense of the hurried, and those present were invited to come and kneel at the altar with hands outstretched.  When I returned to my pew I was aware of the organist playing the hymn, "Just as I am, I come to Thee," and my own heart saying, "Sometimes we forget we are hungry and thirsty."  It was a blessed moment for my soul.