Memories.

"Memories are made of this (sweet, sweet, the memories you gave me)"

Thus we sung when I was much younger (if my memory serves me well!).  It is certainly true that all of us have memories - some pleasant; some less so.  Yesterday, one of my lovely memories was evoked as my wife set out a small jar of apple and bramble (blackberry) jam that a friend had made, and brought as a wee gift when visiting us recently.  My mind immediately went back to my early childhood, when I lived next door to my paternal grandmother.  I remembered sitting down at the table in her front (=only!) room with a large slice of her home-baked bread, spread with her home-churned butter, topped with her home-made apple and bramble jam, all washed down with a glass of the buttermilk left over from the butter churning!  Memories!

Tomorrow, millions of people, all over the world, will remember.  They will break bread together.  They will share in some wine - frequently non-alcoholic.  Some will do so with great pomp and ceremony, in splendid buildings; some will do so simply, and secretly, in a home, concerned lest the authorities discover what they are doing and have them arrested, imprisoned, even put to death.  Some will be doing so as a daily event; some as a weekly one; some as a quarterly one.

But all will remember.  They will remember One Who hung on a cross - His body broken, His blood shed.  They will remember that He did this for each of them.  They will remember that He gave his life that we might have life.  They will rejoice that that which they celebrate is only "until He comes".

For disciples of Jesus - the One Who hung on that cross - the communion service (aka the Lord's Supper; the Eucharist) is a potent memory.  However, it is also a call to examine ourselves - to recognise that not one of us is worthy to approach that Table, and partake of those elements; to rejoice in the grace of God that still invites us.  It's one of the paradoxes of the Christian faith, that it is my recognition, and confession, of my unworthiness that makes me worthy!

May all of us who partake, wherever we may be, and in whatever form the celebration tales, do so to His glory.