tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post1995592129522546823..comments2024-03-28T10:26:20.408-04:00Comments on Ponderings on a Faith Journey: Becoming Christ's Body in the EucharistRobert Cornwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-52769890837431968542010-07-07T23:45:19.305-04:002010-07-07T23:45:19.305-04:00Bob,
I enjoy the entire service but I feel in my ...Bob,<br /><br />I enjoy the entire service but I feel in my heart that the table is always the main focus. As for the prayers at the table, they depend on the theology of the elder and the heart and skill that they bring to the table.<br /> <br />When I am at the table I want to reach inside and draw out the best that I have to contribute to the community's communion experience. If I can, I want to be an agent of centering and focus. For myself, the prayers at the table work best when they weave together the components of the rest of the service into a culminating appeal to God for blessings and spiritual nourishment, and an expression of the profoundest thanksgiving for the opportunity to commune and draw life-giving sustenance in the presence of God. Paul says that we are to be "thankful in all circumstances," I would add, "especially when we share a table with the Lord of all Creation."<br /><br />Also, I want the congregation to hear the words of prayer and to join with me in the prayer experience. I am uncomfortable extemporizing at the table. When I stumble, or ramble, or fail to make sense, I feel I have failed to do the job God has appointed for me this day. Some folks are good at it and I enjoy listening and experiencing the wonderful gift God has given them. <br /><br />My personal theology is that the elements represent the body and blood of Christ - not a mere remembrance and something more than a mere symbol - a potentiality. I love the theology behind the Catholic Eucharist, but I am not really comfortable at the element of magic which transubstantiation suggests. Instead, I envision reaching through the elements to Jesus and grasping his presence in that fashion. For me it is no great leap to respond as the disciples at Emmaus, and discern the presence of God in the breaking of the bread. The best teaching in the world cannot match the potentiality of discerning the true presence which can occur in the breaking of the bread.<br /><br />JohnJohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245470576919732592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-42449472655153216762010-07-07T21:10:36.269-04:002010-07-07T21:10:36.269-04:00On a more constructive note- I vote a free confess...On a more constructive note- I vote a free confession of sin would be appropriate in our service.David Mcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-86579445219489827442010-07-07T20:53:25.456-04:002010-07-07T20:53:25.456-04:00I do appreciate your comments -- and have made the...I do appreciate your comments -- and have made the dpelling change. <br /><br />Hee, hee. Someone's working too hard and/ or was too HOT.David Mcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-45219444182555631232010-07-07T20:46:44.651-04:002010-07-07T20:46:44.651-04:00"Too often our time at the table is sloppy an..."Too often our time at the table is sloppy and irreverent, but more importantly our practice often has little theological grounding." <br /><br />What you see, and what God sees might be different things. Are you talking about home meals?? We know the words of Jesus in the gospel. We are to remember him and then share the meal. There's some theological grounding there. Push hard and you'll get more persons alienated than the opposite.<br /><br />How do you presume to know and how can you cast doubts upon the ob-servants? Just by observing? <br /><br />I was raised Catholic, but I feel no need to constrain the practice with needless dogma. You will never get an honest consensus on its meaning- without force.<br /><br />I do feel, as I observe, the celebration of the table at CWCC is always a superb opportunity to make it personally relevant. Sometimes we might be too misdirected and miss it. Will anything ever solve that?David Mcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-78886731974762217882010-07-07T17:39:05.037-04:002010-07-07T17:39:05.037-04:00Keith,
I do appreciate your comments -- and have ...Keith,<br /><br />I do appreciate your comments -- and have made the dpelling change. <br /><br />I look forward to reading your essay on the Lord's Supper Book. I'll have to check it out as well.<br /><br />I'm hoping we can get a conversation about the Eucharist going here and hope to add other pieces in the coming days. Unfortunately my copy of Thankful Praise is loaned out to someone who is out of town!Robert Cornwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-54122003373632417572010-07-07T14:51:17.138-04:002010-07-07T14:51:17.138-04:00Bob, thanks for citing and quoting this material f...Bob, thanks for citing and quoting this material from my published work. I may want to use this same material in some other things I'm working on, including columns in my blog a little later on. I am glad to affirm this quotation as it stands. I agree with your comments about Disciples worship. While I am not familiar with the patterns at Central Woodward Christian Church, it would not surprise me to learn that its traditional practice is somewhat different from what I recommend. That's the way it is in most Disciples churches I visit. I try not to be bothered by the fact.<br /><br />You raise an important question, however, which my statement does not resolve, and that is the connection between Christ's actions, especially his death, resurrection, and continuing presence "at the right hand of God," and what takes place at the Lord's table. I have been reading a book that deals with this question: "The Lord's Supper: Five Views," edited by Gordon T. Smith, and I am trying to write an extended essay prompted by the book. I have been drafting short eucharistic prayers (of the type used by Disciples) in the light of these reflections. All of this, however, is work very much in progress.<br /><br />By the way, there is a typo in line 10 of the first paragraph of the quotation: the word should be "more" rather than "mire.:Keith Watkinshttp://keithwatkinshistorian.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com