March 13, 2006
First of all, thank you Lori, Celeste, Chuck and Janice for your supportive comments.
Today's new post includes a poem I wrote following an intensive time of trying to make sure I concentrated on partaking of the Lord's Supper in a meaningful manner. After you read it, would you please respond to this question:
How do you make sure that you keep the right focus during communion? Do you have to do what I show I had to do in the following section? If you'd like, ask a couple of friends you regard as spiritual people if this kind of mental exercise would be helpful to them. I'd love to hear from friends, as well as some people who don't know me yet but would be willing to give some input.
A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. — John 19:29
This torture tree has become the peg
On which I impale my soul.
For remembrance, I use
The rosemary of sorrow,
The mnemonic of proxy-pain:
I make myself the sponge
Thirsty for that blood,
Starved for His presence
Here, far away
From that splintered horror
(c) 2000 Latayne C. Scott
The fact that we live in a modern, sophisticated world makes many think that it is “barbaric” to think about the gruesome fact of the Cross. Many people want worship to be a light and carefree experience, with music and encouraging sermons. It has never been that way for believers. In the Old Testament, the singing and rejoicing at the Temple dedication were against the backdrop of blood-drenched altars. New Testament believers often met in catacombs, singing their songs of hope with the smell of death and decay all around. It's all about contrasts, really: we can't see the victory of the cross unless we put it up against its shame.
What do you think?
Being a Christian author means being a proxy - for the benefit of another and…
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i was having trouble making it work
here it is in case it didnt work
"I often have mixed feelings about communion. Surely it is about remembering jesus's death, which is sorrowful, yet also his resurrection, which is triumphant. Surely it is about each other, fellowship and unity of the body of christ. In this way I have trouble gearing up for a certain feeling in preparation for celebrating the Lord's supper"
I feel the same way, Antonio. In a way, such a dichotomy mirrors the differences between the western Church, which focuses on the redemptive suffering of Jesus; and the eastern (orthodox) tradition which points people toward the triumphant Resurrection. So perhaps this dichotomy causes a friction in our minds that is actually healthy?