1 Corinthians 11 (First Nations Version, Terry M. Wildman)
Your Table is Too Small
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This is the sacred tradition that came from our Honored Chief, a tradition that I have received and passed on to you:
On the night that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) our Honored Chief was betrayed, he took some frybread. He then gave thanks to the Great Spirit, broke the frybread into pieces, and said, “This is my body, broken for you. Eat it to remember me.”
In the same manner, when the evening meal was over, he took the cup of wine, gave thanks to the Great Spirit, and said, “This cup represents the new peace treaty, brought into being at the cost of my lifeblood. Whenever you drink this cup, drink it to remember me.”
For until our Honored Chief returns, each time you ceremonially eat from this frybread and drink from this cup, you are retelling the story of his death and its full meaning and purpose.
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Today is Holy Thursday, the day Jesus instituted the ceremony we call Holy Communion.
The ceremony takes place at the altar, but it was never meant to stop there. One name for it is the Eucharist, but that fancy word just means Thanksgiving.
Holy Communion is meant to set the tone for a lifetime of Thanks-Living that reaches far beyond the table.
All of Creation pours out life that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. All the Creator asks is that we receive it with grateful hearts.
The world tells us we should be full of anxiety and dread. The virus is mutating. Inflation is rising. Gas prices are high. Recession could be nigh. World War III might be at hand. Why should we be grateful for any of that?
Some of the folks I've known who were best at Thanks-Living seemed to have the fewest reasons to give thanks--at least by worldly standards. Perhaps their lives of Eucharist are acts of faithful defiance. The world can never take away their grateful hearts.
The Communion Table invites us to focus on gratitude. Not just during the ceremony, but in the ordinary stuff of life. Hot coffee, warm smiles, home made music, laughter, and fresh frybread.
The Table is a good place to start--but it is too small to hold all of our gratitude. Let your Thanks-Living overflow into all of life.
And tell the world it cannot steal your gratitude.