Eucharist

Today marks the first time I have been asked to participate in the Eucharist during chapel at Trinity Lutheran College. The invitation occurred six minutes before the service began. I had never been involved with handling the sacrament for a Lutheran Eucharist before. I expected there to be some prompting or direction, but. . .

I seemed to have taken to the responsibility rather well. I instinctively knew what I was doing. And as I was holding the chalices of wine and juice, reciting the words, I came to a wonderfully serendipitous discovery:

"Blood of Christ shed for you. Blood of Christ shed for you. Blood of Christ shed for you. . ."

The act of ministering in this way somehow personalized the moment for me in a way that was truly profound. The repetition of both people and speech allowed me to focus on the actions taken by Jesus of Nazareth on the night He was betrayed, as well as the significance of what was achieved on the cross. That mantra allowed me a window into a mystical moment wherein the death of Christ was personally my own. The significance of this event has waned as time has passed, but the moment itself remains untouched by the ills of memory; it shall stand as a time of centering and reorientation in which I came to feel the expressed will of God for my life in that moment. Truly profound.