What sets Sunday apart in your life? Is it getting up early to attend church? Do you spend time with friends on that day - is it set apart for family - is it a day that sports are on?
This eye-catching headline asks the question of where Sabbath and culture meet:
Reclaiming Sabbath might aid our faith http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=4120
The secularization of time has created a kind of push back to reclaiming sacred space and schedule. High-church traditions are pulling in numbers of my friends and colleagues.
For me, Sunday traditionally has been a day for sermons, naps, family, and a large shared meal.
That shared meal changed a bit since I grew up and moved away from extended family. Large tables of fried chicken were miles away, grandparents and cousins no longer near.
Now I crave the Eucharist. I love rich sermons, but I've found a fundamental shift in my posture towards Sunday over the past five or ten years - Sunday is a day for sermons, and family, yes - but Sunday is the day on which we take the Eucharist.
I miss it when I've missed several Sundays in a row. My spirit feels enfeebled and impoverished. I miss the quiet, Christocentric ritual that draws me out of my feelings and conundrums and centres me on a tangible, outer expression of the faith.
Now, when I miss a Sunday, I miss the Eucharist.
What do you miss? I hope you're able to say.
2 comments:
Working where I do, I am constantly reminded of church, with the religious music playing over the sound system via satellite. A lot of people comment on it, or catch themselves humming along while standing waiting for their order.
Being at church almost everyday now with my job, it is just plain weird to miss church services if I am sick or out of town. Church has always been the focal point of my week. Even as a child, all things point to Sundays, and time to renew the spirit, refocus priorities and lay our burdens down as we worship the only One who can really handle things. In our denomination, Communion (the Eucarist) is only offered on the first Sunday of the month and some specail occasions. It is a very meaningful moment for me, always. The deep meaning, of the privilege of sharing in the life of God, through Christ in us, making us truly the Body of Christ in the world, is powerful. What the apostle Paul said about it no longer being himself that lives, but Christ in him, begins to make sense to me at last.
Sundays are such a gift. Worship is a blessing I never want to miss any day!
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