This is a Cup

I remember the old game where people sit in a circle and pass around simple items (like a cup), saying "This is a cup. A what? A cup. A what? A cup. Oh, a cup." And then they would pass the item, receive a different item, and continue the game.

I'm reminded of this game during communion today. Every week we do basically the same things, over and over again. It's similar to this game. "This is a cup." Then the presider often gives a meditation that answers some part of the question "A what?" We go through this weekly, repeatedly, like the game. And we need the repetition. Eventually we hopefully "get it," saying "Oh, a cup."

Weekly communion doesn't at all have to devolve into trite, rote, meaningless repetition. Sometimes the repetition is more like the hammering of a nail. Every hit of the hammer was necessary to get the nail where it was meant to go. We need every iteration of the Table to allow God to work on us.