Saturday, December 24, 2005

Father Christmas' Communion


The children have gone to bed now, having set out the traditional mince-pie-and-glass-of-sherry for that great bishop of the Church, Santa Claus. It struck me how much they looked like the elements set out for Communion - not surprisingly, given that in their most elemental form they are (sweet) bread and (fortified) wine.

And that, in turn, got me thinking about communion, the coming-together-in-unity of God and humanity, Creator and created. We tend to view taking communion as an act of remembering Jesus' death on the cross - his body broken and his blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. But it speaks of Christmas as much as Easter - Jesus' body broken and his blood shed; the physicality of the Spirit; the visibile expression of the Invisible God; Emmanuel - God with us.

4 comments:

  1. A very merry Christmas from the land of Oz! May you enjoy the season and the cooler weather. Let us know when you know where God is leading you guys

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  2. Anonymous11:00 am

    Happy Christmas Jo and Andrew!

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  3. ofcourse you didn't drink the alcohol, that would be sinful!!!

    :)

    Hope you are finding God in this time of uncertainty my friend. Blessing for the new year.

    the rev

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  4. Your world to me is strange and alien. However, I wish you and your family all the best.

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