A Casual COMMUNION

When two friends mentioned in a short span of time that they had begun taking communion before God by themselves each morning as part of their personal devotional times, I began to wonder what a difference the practice could make in my own spiritual life. I decided to devote a month to giving it a try.

It was easy enough to do. A single red grape in place of the wine and a tiny oyster cracker for the bread began to take their place beside whatever morning munchie I had placed on the napkin beside my coffee. I began by simply thanking God for the blessings of the day before. Then I’d review my actions of the previous twenty-four hours, examining myself before taking the bread or drinking the cup as the Bible instructs. Once the missteps were repented of and forgiveness received, I focused on the meaning of the emblems before me, the actions they symbolized, and the freedoms they purchased for me…as well as what they mean to my life today.

The difficult word in that sentence is focused. Too often I simply am not, and perhaps that was the point of this whole month-long exercise - to point out to me that my inattention to what I am doing deprives my actions of the power they might otherwise contain and keeps me from being as effective as I could be in whatever I undertake, whether that be the household chores on my ever-present to-do list, the demands of my job, or in developing the relationships with people around me.

One morning in particular I began my devotional time with a million other things on my mind. Sitting down at the table, I forgot to first check those thoughts at the kitchen door, and was soon munching down the communion emblems as causally as I normally do the Girl Scout Thin Mints they shared the napkin with!

Checked in my spirit, I got another set of emblems and began again. I remained attentive while eating the bread, but my mind was already wandering again by the time I got to the grape!

Stop! Backup! Refocus. Begin again. These are the words that are currently making a difference, not just in my devotional times, but in all that I do.

Twice recently I’ve heard people speak of the ability to “live in the moment”, being fully involved in whatever activity they are currently undertaking. Too easily do I pass through my life only vaguely aware at times of what is going on around me, so distracted am I by thoughts on what I need to do next or what activity is just around the corner, waiting for my input. The increasingly hectic lifestyles we live today feed into our distraction and actually rob our lives of the intensity each moment should contain. Yet we’re not here to live a purposeless existence. We each have a destiny to fulfill, a reason we’re here. If our communion is casual with Him, it’s likely to be that way with everybody else…and God knows there is simply too much at stake in the short time we have left to live any way except fully involved in however moments and interactions with His people we may have left.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…”
(Ecclesiastes 9:10 MKJV)

Forced to FOCUS

Maintaining my focus on the task at hand has always been a struggle for me. I simply get distracted so easily. Something enters my line of sight and demands my immediate attention, and off I go again…for just a minute, I tpromise…until I find that my time is gone and my task is left incomplete.

I’m limited in where I can write because my attention drifts so easily. Music of any kind, the television set in a nearby room, and especially conversations between people around me stop the process completely. One solution I’ve tried recently is to set a timer nearby, the constant ticking of which would remind me of the passage of time and hurry me on with the project at hand. Unfortunately the ticking itself paralyzed me till I couldn’t type a word.

I waste a lot of time in my non-creative moments of the day due to this same issue, switching courses midstream and ending with too many projects started and too few completed. As a result I feel the constant stress of to-do lists left undone, people disappointed in my lack of progress in projects needing my attention, and the discouragement of a seemingly wasted day but one in which I was yet constantly busy.

As I devote more time to my writing this month, I’m aware that there are still other things to be done; bills need to be paid on time, clothes need to be washed, and the pile of dishes in the sink needs to be dealt with. I realize that I have to concentrate more than ever before on whatever the task at hand, as nothing gets a second chance - there are absolutely no hours left to devote to something later in the day if I dilly-dally at all during its scheduled time slot. But in the back of my mind, I’m constantly thinking of the next letter, the next post, the next blog to visit, the next new friend to meet. The Challenge is simply always there.

It’s interesting that I’m writing this on Good Friday, the day that Christ suffered on the cross and died. And as I look at His life, I’m reminded that whatever He found Himself doing on any given day, His mind was still focused on the reason He came, to the point that at the moment of His death He spoke of its completion.. Likewise we are here for a season with a destiny that we are meant to fulfill. And (thankfully!) while I don’t hear it, I know that there is a clock ticking away, reminding me to treasure each moment while I’m in it while yet counting down the time left to me to be about my Father’s business.

One way or another I’m going to reach both the end of the month and the end of my days. My focus is on crossing the finish line with the alphabet complete… and my purpose here fulfilled.

“…Jesus said, “It is finished.’ With that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit,”
(John 19:30) NIV)