Clean-up

So I was taking communion with some colleagues, friends, and we broke bread after our lunch and conversation.  I was struck by the image of our leftovers, the slung over napkin, an empty coffee container, a mug and a soda can. A bouquet of Black-Eyed Susans, the loaf and chalice are in the mix as well.  Beauty and truth lay within the image.  Carrie Newcomber’s lyrics to Betty’s Diner came to mind:

Here we are all in one place  

The wants and wounds of the human race

Despair and hope sit face to face

When you come in from the cold

Let her fill your cup with something kind

Eggs and toast like bread and wine

She’s heard it all so she don’t mind

It makes me think of Christ looking down a long table with friends and searching for the bread, then reaching for the cup, as in the image, one among many for sure.  Communion can be a messy business; we arrive with our leftovers from hours, days, weeks or even years. And yet when we join in this tradition, this sacrament we join together as God’s children.

There is an understanding as we collect ourselves for communion that there is more than meets the eye, faith is just that, understanding, believing there is value in what is unseen, that there is more.  Just as in the photo there is value in the unknown, the grace said before the meal goes unheard, and the fellowship as we satisfied our hunger cannot be felt, the sweetness of chocolate chip cookies is missed.  Is it not unfortunate that often what we see first is what needs to be “cleaned up” from an event? 

 Would it not be ironic that Christ looked around the table and decided to “clean-up” a bit?  As he grabs a loaf he is struck by the image of a whole loaf, somehow surviving the meal, and he sees himself in this as well as the loaves that have been broken throughout the supper.  A few moments later, with “clean-up” fresh on his mind, he finds the cup filled with red wine, he is struck again by what is about to happen. 

He looks upon his friends, the debris, the messes and the joys; he looks upon them with love, knowing there is so much more to their stories and his. He looks at them “despair and hope sitting face to face” and he says, “This is the sign of the new covenant, the forgiveness of sins” the ultimate cleansing---remember me whenever you drink from this cup.