I didn't know until this past weekend how important taking Communion is to my Dad who is Episcopalian. For me it has always been a symbolic thing that takes on symbolic meaning but has never really meant that much. I've taken Communion before at his church and other times have just passed thinking nothing of it. It's always felt like all the effort was wasted on me bc. I never really appreciated the ritual or the significance. And the flower communion at so many UU churches seemed a little empty, feeling like a half-hearted attempt to make Christians feel at home without actually committing to real Communion. Wouldn't want to be holy, would we? Kind of like changing the lyrics to hymns.
How do others who post here treat Holy Communion religiously and philosophically? Many of you are Christian. Is communion an essential element of your beliefs?
It is certainly more "important to faith" if you believe along the lines of Catholic doctrine - body and blood of Christ present or even Protestant where the Spirit is felt to be nourished....rather than just symbolic.
Googled this site that has pretty good details:
http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Pr...stmain.htm
However, like all religious rituals...it can have deep symbolic meaning...and can be used as a tool for contemplation etc.
Personally to me, I don't really do the ritualized communion found in many churches because I feel like it takes it out of context in a weird way. I feel like the remembrance of Jesus should just be at every meal. (Not that I remember to do that at every meal.) Also, since growing up in a Messianic congregation, I feel like it's not real unless it's real bread. There should be enough so that you actually feel like you're eating something! Which is kind of silly, I know, but that's how I prefer it. Little wafers or biscuits seem so contrived. We always had challah for everyone to just come up and take a piece out of at the end, and that to me feels more like everyone's sharing in something together.
Although, religiously I don't feel like it is an essential part of my faith because I see it as a remembrance of Jesus, not a sacrament.
I'm not Christian but I'll give my two cents anyway
I respect the sacrament of the Eucharist as it is understood in various Christian traditions; if I were attending a Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican service I would refrain from participating in communion. Indeed if I were in any Christian gathering celebrating communion, I would refrain from it.
Personally I have found the flower and water communions to be meaningful, however too often they aren't taken seriously by participants. The last flower communion I attended a few years ago combined it with an awards ceremony for volunteer work and an outdoor children's activity (I don't remember what it was, but the minister was dressed as magician and the others involved were dressed as clowns). When I think of the history of this ritual, and the fact that Capek died in a Nazi camp, I just want to pull my hair out.
I have come to feel that the high church communion rite is a degradation of the last supper.
The communion rite is actually the passover seder. So few christians recognize this and I think that may be part of that "weird" out of context feeling skyimp mentions.
When Jesus says "Do this in remembrance of me" he is saying remember me at Passover. So why do christians do this if they don't celebrate passover? Personally, I think they missed the whole point. Passover.
Anyway, regardless of the outer form, the rite can hold meaning if it is properly understood and executed with dignity. I would agree with skyimp that every meal is a potential communion, particularly sabbath meals.