This Quaker and the Eucharist

When I was a Methodist, I shared the Eucharist ritual but it felt hollow most of the time. My mom had asked me if I would "take Communion" at their Methodist church at the Christmas Eve service. I said it depends on how it was presented. As a convinced Quaker, I am not totally against ritual per se. I am searching for the divine, the spiritual source and power of these rituals. I believe that much of that has been lost. So, I was keen to see how the Eucharist was presented this past Christmas Eve.

I listened carefully to the pastor. What I heard in his sermon was the following: you (the congregation) are the sheep, we pastors are the shepherds, we will bring you the Word of God. So you just sit there passively while we protect you from "predators". (huh? Sin? the current administration?) He went on to say that we needed to "look for a Savior". To me, that's fine to do that, if you bring that strength inside, bring God or Christ or whatever you choose to call the deity in your life. If you keep it external, remain passive, remain unconnected, remain sheep on the hillside, then this is dis-empowering, in my opinion. My brother and I talked this over later. He did not hear it the way I did. I'm not saying I'm right and he's wrong or that the pastor is a bad person. Just that from my experience in life, this felt hollow. So, I chose not to take Eucharist. I didn't feel I could connect with God, through that ritual in that place. I watched instead. People looked like they were entranced. Now that could be a positive thing or a negative thing. So I don't pretend to know what they were feeling.

I guess the other thing that always troubles me is that folks in the clergy will talk about Jesus, their church will go on "mission trips" to help people in trouble, but they won't ask the tough questions like why IS there this insane war in Iraq? Why has the Katrina response been so tragically inadequate? Why ARE there terrorists? What could we do to make the world a more peaceful place by LOOKING AT THE UNDERLYING CAUSES. Sigh. I take the stance that Jesus was a radical person who asked the tough questions, lived a powerful life that challenged the people in power, challenged their authority. But asking those sorts of questions might offend some wealthy members of the congregation, then there wouldn't be enough money for the huge multi-million dollar addition, for the "band aid" mission trips. I know, in my heart that people are doing their best. At least I want to believe that there is that in every person. Maybe not. Organized religion does have the capacity to do many good things in this world. But often I see them doing negative things. Or being silent about injustices. Silence is complicity.

I'm not saying that I or the Quakers have all the answers. I don't know if I have ANY of the answers. I do have a lot of questions, however.

On the Road..............

Poodledoc, Jr and I started out on our annual pilgrimage to visit the Poodledoc family in Chattanooga, TN. It is kind of nice that they are all conveniently located in one place. So there's my mom, Grandma Poodledoc, brother Chris Poodledoc and his family and my sister, Carol Poodledoc. We're spending Christmas and New Years with them. Should be............interesting. Guess we'll go to the Christmas Eve service at their Methodist Church.

Apparently they perform the Eucharist. My mom asked me if I "took communion any more now that I'm a Quaker". Interesting question. I said, well, it depends on how it's "presented". This could be another post. Do Quaker's take communion? Hmmmmmm. The short answer is that I see it as a communion with all living things, all the creatures, that have God in them. And all the other parts of creation that aren't living. But still have God in them. Then I feel moved to "take communion". It also feels more meaningful to me if it is presented to me/us as a communion with our community. But community is a big word. For some, it can be an inclusive word. And for some, it can be an exclusive word. So, the Eucharist can be a powerful symbolic ritual, even for me as a Quaker, or it can be a hollow exercise in which we get to eat little pieces of white bread and grape juice and repeat the same old same old. For me, as a Quaker, looking back on my Methodist upbringing, Eucharist and all, digging just a little deeper into the ritual can bring me feelings of connection with the Divine. The stuff behind the ritual. Stuff that got lost, at least for me. Which ultimately led me to become a Quaker. So, we'll see what choice I make on Christmas Eve. Or maybe I need to be open for a nudge from God, make space for God. Sometimes I don't leave room for God at my "spiritual table".

Anyway, I'll go to the Methodist church with Poodledoc, Jr on Christmas Eve and then go to Quaker Meeting the next weekend. I've been to the Chattanooga Friends Meeting once before and enjoyed it a great deal. I'm sure it will be ..........interesting....