This morning Chris, Andy and I performed at Church. What a thrill for me to have BOTH my boys with me at Church and my daughter in law Juliet. It’s been a long time since we have all been at a worship service together. Getting to perform was an added blessing.
Our Church does communion once a month, on the first Sunday of the month. So today was the day we did communion. I never fail to see the communion trays on the altar without smiling. When Chris was about 3 we went to Church in Kingfisher one Sunday with my parents. When it came time for communion the servers went forth to get the elements. My dad was one of them. In a loud voice as my dad started toward the congregation with the tray Chris said “Hey, Pepa is getting to pass out the snacks.” My mom and I broke into that kind of laughter that you know you need to stop but can’t and our whole pew was shaking. What is normally a quiet time of reflection as you partake of the bread and the wine turned into a memory that 22 years later is still in my mind every time I take communion.
A few years later, Andy would remark, “hey here comes the crackers and koolaid” sending me into spasms of laughter much like the incident with Chris. (this may be why a lot of Churches now have Children’s Church..LOL) At the Methodist Church I attend, the kids are in the service. Every time we had communion coming up from that point on we told the boys what it meant. Even as an adult, it is somewhat of a mystery to me and so from a child’s point of view it probably does seem like a strange ritual.
A few weeks ago, I went to Church in Kingfisher with my dad and sister and her kids. At my Church, you go forward, take the elements, kneel at the altar and eat and drink them. At my dad’s Church they pass the tray down the pews and you take the bread and the little cup and hold it until everyone has theirs and then the preacher prays and you partake together. I had mine in my hand, waiting for the “signal” when my niece bumped my arm and I dropped the cracker and it bounced and rolled under the pew in front of us. My sister and I started to giggle and my niece loudly proclaimed “I’ll get it Elan” and crawled under the pew and retrieved it. And then said in a voice a little too loud, “Here you can have mine if you want since yours is dirty…I don’t like the way it tastes anyway.” And just as the giggles from that incident had subsided, I put my little communion cup in the hole on the hymnal holder rack on the back of the pew in front of me. My sister, who has attended Church all her life whispered, “so that’s what those holes are for..I thought they were for pens.” I could hardly wait for Church to end so I could laugh freely.
I’ve been to Churches where as a guest, I was not allowed to take communion. I have been to Churches where I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to take communion. I’m glad I am at a Church where anyone that is a believer can take communion. The preacher always says “all of those who are believers, regardless of denomination are welcome at Christ’s table. I like that. The inclusiveness is probably the one thing I live most about the Methodist Church I attend.
The word communion actually means the act of sharing; possession in common; participation: the act of sharing one's thoughts and emotions with another or others ...
It is in this sacrament that I find a bit of peace each time. It is a physical act of participation as a Christian and a spiritual act of taking “Christ into my body”.
The song that we did today was Lean on Me. Not really a Church song. But the words if you think of them in a Church context fit pretty well. I was a little concerned because we were performing at what many in our church refer to as “Old people Church”.. It is a traditional Methodist Service, with old hymns, and a somewhat stationary format in regard to the program. Most of the older adults in our Church are pretty wonderful, open minded people. There are a few “church lady” types who never smile and seem to think everyone under 50 is a hoodlum. LOL But only a few. To bring guitars and harmonicas into the “traditional service” and sing a song that is secular probably caused a few comments under their breath.
When I performed my comedy a year or so ago at a fundraiser that was held at our Church I very carefully thought about what I was going to say. I am always aware of the audience and try to prepare accordingly. I knew there would be children and “church lady types” there so my normal PG comedy was cleaned up to a nice solid G rating. Still I managed to offend someone by saying the word breast. Not even in a sexual context. When I did comedy a couple of years ago at a Christmas function I apparently traumatized a young child when I told a story about my dad running over a cat instead of a skunk one Christmas eve. The mother approached me afterwards and asked me to tell the child I was making it up, that no “cats were actually harmed.” So I lied to the kid and called it good.
Ok, back to the song. Lean on Me. I love the lyrics. All of us need someone to lean on. I cannot think of anyone that doesn’t need someone to lean on. When I was first divorced, that was the thing that hit me the hardest. Since I had been married most of my adult life I had always had a spouse to “lean on”. I didn’t have to make all the decisions on my own. There was someone to share the load. All of the sudden every decision was mine to make, whether it be what to have for supper or whether or not to buy a car. At times it was overwhelming. Still is sometimes. I have a lot of people that I can “call on” as the song says. My dad for one. He has always done anything I needed him to do for me. My kids, my friends, my co-workers and my Church family…all leanonable. New word. And when I’m at my wits end, when I don’t want to even talk about it to anyone, God is there. I don’t even have to articulate what it is that I need. He knows. I just hold out my hands, palms up and say Take this Lord. I can’t deal with it.
And He does. Or sends someone across my path that can help.
I strive to be the kind of person that others know they can lean on. My faith has sustained me through a lot of things over the years. I may not always have the answer but the willingness to be a friend is there.
And just like the song, the relationships we build need to be reciprocal. Lean on me, when you’re not strong……………….it won’t be long, till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.
Today, sitting with my sons and Juliet in Church I had an overwhelming sense of peace and joy. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for these children of mine. And nothing they wouldn’t do for me. As I knelt at the rail and took the bread and the cup I said a prayer thanking God for my life. For my family, for my Church and my friends. People to lean on.
I’m leanonable. Just call me, if you need a friend, call me, if you need someone, call me…………………………LeeAnn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbuhI4x_d3s&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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