#lovefeast

Gathering in Wait Chapel for the annual Lovefeast. -Ken Bennett

A non-theistic or theistically neutral Eucharist is just a reminder that we can take things and make them holy. That our actions can create good, sometimes out of seemingly impossible circumstances, sometimes out of seemingly nothing. Goodness is holy.

A non-theistic or theistically neutral Eucharist is a reminder that we can share and spread that good with all. That all are invited to the table of goodness, that a cup (wellspring) of compassion is available to all. It’s us faking it until we make it, practicing sharing goodness & compassion, because really, the table is supposed to be our societies & the way we live our lives.

We join together with a diverse group of people and, for a short time, we are one. Many, yes, different, yes, but also one together reading and reflecting and singing and thinking and hoping and dedicating and sharing our thoughts and sharing our food. We partake together of something that symbolizes a meal. All are welcome to this space, to this meal. Because there’s not a single one of us who wasn’t born worthy of love, goodness, compassion. Our meal is the acknowledging of that fact. We are one people: all economic levels, all ages, all genders, all orientations, all levels of ability, all mind-types, all colors, all cultures… in the end, we are all people. And that knowledge reminds us to see ourselves in our neighbors, to create relationships that are same-same instead of subject-object… when we are one and we are worthy & loved, it is harder to do injustice to our fellow people

To bring various people together, to create community, to be emotionally intimate together, to be vulnerable together, to be tender with each other, to love each other, to share that love and compassion, to inspire each other to go out in the world and create justice by loving each other and having compassion… this is holy. This is sacred.

So many former Christians and Atheists(TM) poo-poo on the Eucharist. I... that bothers me. To me it says they missed the point. That they never got it to begin with. When Christians believe in transubstantiation, to me, the literal part isn’t Jesus, but the changing, the being. Jesus is a metaphor. God is a metaphor. When we say “this is the body of God”, we’re saying “this is the very being of goodness”. We’re saying “we can make things good” and “we can share that goodness”.

People talk about ration and reason as if it’s all you need in life, but that’s a lie. Pure ration and reason gets you things like eugenics and the holocaust. Without love, without compassion, without seeing ourselves in our neighbor, concepts that can be very irrational at times… we have a cold cold world. It’s OKAY to have feelings, to have emotions, to have a little mystery. Because even the most rational scientist will admit that there are plenty of things we do not understand about the universe. Now, I think that with science, we’ll get there eventually… or maybe new questions will pop up as we answer the old ones. And that’s awesome. And that’s amazing. And perhaps that’s holy. But there’s more to life than ration & reason… otherwise we wouldn’t have some of the most amazing things in our world. And maybe they’re within your concept of reason, but they’re not rational. But too often do I see this concept of ration and reason to secretly mean the way that white (often cis, straight) men think. That they get to decide what’s rational, what’s reasonable.

The reality is there’s lots of irrational things in this world. Some of it is phenomena that is natural. Some of it is created by people. Some of it is Good. Some of it is Bad. Some of it just Is. But life without a little irrationality (of the type explained above) is bereft. And I’m not talking about an entire system of belief here complete with a thousand page long explanation that takes so much mental twisting. I’m talking about a few moments out of life where people who would otherwise avoid each other gather together, listen, share, and love each other. Where we take something ordinary and use it for the extraordinary, whether to you that’s a transformation or a symbol/metaphor. (Even calling to mind that metaphor and reminding ourselves of its importance can be extraordinary.) Where we share a meal, and let the simple everyday act of eating & drinking, something we often do mindlessly, remind us of our highest values, inspire us to live up to them. And where we are energized to go forth in the world and live out those values.

But even without the above 2 paragraphs, even without any form of possible supernatural, even without a little room for feelings and mystery, I still think there’s a defense for it. Because the metaphors can be that powerful. Because this is something given in love, given to all, to help us remember love, to be more loving. It is a physical manifestation created for mindfulness of the good things in life.

The Eucharist can transform your life, but only if you let it. And it’s not like it’s Jesus acting through it. No. (I mean, for the Christian theists, it’s that, and that’s fine, but it’s not for us.) This is a gift of love that is freely given to all people. It’s compassion so bountiful that it overflows the cup. To know that we are all worthy of this, that there’s nothing we can do to give up the rights to love and compassion, that this beautiful gift is for me and for you and for everyone, that we are just that awesome… that’s life changing. And that we can go forth and change others lives, that we make their lives better, that we can create a more just world, that we can inspire others to do the same… that’s powerful stuff.

And that’s the point of the Eucharist. That’s the point of services. And that’s something that’s accessible to all.

(But you have to receive it that way. And you have to remember it. You have to let it change your mindsets, to work towards becoming more loving & compassionate & just. It’s a tool, in a way. A tool on its own does nothing. A tool improperly used does nothing as well, or even could create harm. But a tool, properly used, can do great things, some of them greater than we could have possibly imagined. (I’m thinking levers and massive stones.))

Wake Forest held its traditional Lovefeast ceremony in Wait Chapel on Sunday evening. -Ken Bennett

See a photo gallery from the evening service here.

I want a love I cannot drink enough, A sharp and binding draft to kill my thirst; To taste its every sip, though it be rough, And let it drown my lungs until they burst.

I feel this searing passion on my flesh; It shatters me with every single dart, Yet through the pain, my senses wake afresh To crush the cold, abiotic shards of heart.

It melts upon my tongue with heavy grace, Delightful in the biting of the sweet, An overflowing flood I cannot trace, That coats my palms and drips down to my feet.

I want a love that I cannot drink enough of, That one love that I can taste every sip of. Drinking it to kill my thirstiness, Drowning in it, feeling it choke my lungs.

I want a love that I can feel on my flesh, That one love so sharp, that it shatters me, While I crush the shards of my heart, Crystallizing it as an abiotic stone.

What if we had a service that was a combination of a Moravian Love Feast and the Catholic Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament???

In my dream the (rather plain but elegant Protestant) church was candlelit and rather dark, and the ministers (of which I was one) processed in silence, read some brief passages about love, and then we shared an agape meal consisting of cookies and milk. After a few minutes of quiet fellowship, a bell was rung, then I processed to the altar and uncovered the monstrance, and then some traditional prayers were addressed to the Blessed Sacrament, then the Benediction, then a silent recessional.