Standing by the backside of the altar, my little cherubs, in preparation for their chime choir contribution to worship, were pulling themselves together after rehearsal. The congregation was filing in. The low buzz of pre worship conversations was intensifying.
With all the second grade inquisitiveness she could muster, one of the little angels who belonged to another church turned quickly to me and asked, "What's the big muffin for?"
She is the one who always volunteers to pray and displays all the authentic desire to be connected and in conversation with God she can muster.
Distracted by my last minute duties to the choir , I turned to see what she was talking about.
There it sat. The communion loaf.
"Ah...the Big Muffin" I exclaimed inwardlywith a joyful sigh of relief in my heart as I realized it was communion Sunday. "We will eat in later in the service as a reminder that Jesus loves us" I explained simply.
Her nomenclature of the most sacred metaphor of God's sacrifice for us reminded me how much I love conversing with new or non believers about faith and the elements of faith. We are so wedded to church culture and churchspeak and church tradition, we forget the uninitiated can sometimes bring the sharpest clarity to our faith.
The Big Muffin, indeed. That's what he died for. So we could eat the Big Muffin. Every time we eat the Big Muffin and slurp the Big Cup, we humble ourselves to the digestive derivative. He who supplies all our needs and offers us Grace and Mercy despite our best efforts to be our own little gods gives us the Big Muffin.
How many times have you stood there behind that altar and broken the Big Muffin, intoning Paul's words and lifted the Big Cup continuing on and felt the shift in the universe because not just death, but the daily feeding of our souls was overcome by that sacrifice. I hope often. I hope it's not about you doing the giving, but you modelling receiving.
That Muffin IS Big. Bigger than we could ask or imagine. It is a Muffin, full of the air of the Holy Spirit and the promise that we are a forgiven people. How is it fresh to you when you serve it?
All the theological debates and the use of wafers or pita or crackers or big chunks of white bread do not distract from the eternal reality it's a Big Muffin. And we wash it down with a slurp from the Big Cup, whether it's the sweet tang of juice that grabs our tastebuds at the side of our cheeks or the burning of wine as it slips down our throats.
If we forget post modern or emerging or digital , and simply tell them, it's a Big Muffin enough for all of us to eat. It doesn't stick in our throats and our mouths and we don't have to chew because it is followed by the slurp from the Big Cup, it is enough. They will get it.
Many mornings they eat a muffin and a hot drink. They get it that eating something like that is comfort and joy and hope and promise. Real or essential. They get it. Start there maybe when you are explaining. Start with the Big Muffin and the Big Cup. Start with what they know. Jesus did.
Love
Deborah
About Me
- The Social Contemplative
- What does it mean to be a social contemplative? A person who has spent a lot of time reflecting on a very busy life with diverse experiences that have , in spite of herself, yielded a lot of wisdom she wishes to pass on to others. Deborah loves people but recharges her batteries alone. Sitting in the presence of her own life is mandatory. Reflection and centering happen in the midst of the whirl of a populated world. Born on the East Coast, living all her adult life on the West Coast she is a hybrid of cultures. She is a mom, a writer, and a teacher who sings, reads and swims for fun. And yes she is ordained, but don’t hold that against her. She believes we are more than conquerors and most days there’s a smile on her face because she deals with life in real time. She’s a whole lot funnier than this description makes her sound. Lastly, it’s important to know she’s a paper and pencil gal in a digital world.
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