Communion Meaning: When Ritual Feels Meaningless
In a monthly meeting at a local lodge, the author recalls feeling that the ceremony communicated nothing to him, despite the participants’ serious attention and order. Seeing familiar faces from his church, he began to wonder what the lodge service meant to them—and whether Communion meant any more to them, or to him.
- A carefully ordered ceremony can still feel spiritually empty.
- Similar seriousness can appear in very different kinds of gatherings.
- The experience raises hard questions about meaning in Communion.
By Mark A. Taylor
I’m not sure now why I attended the monthly meeting of the local lodge. I had been invited by someone, maybe to pray or see him installed into some office. I don’t recall who he was or any specifics about the evening.
I only remember my reaction to being there.
The whole service was meaningless to me, in spite of the sober demeanor of the lodge members who participated in it. They gave complete attention to the words they read from a book. They somberly went through the motions, careful to complete the program “decently and in order.” But none of it communicated anything to me.
Many of these men were members of the church I served at the time. I couldn’t help but notice at the lodge the same serious concern I had seen on their faces in the worship services of the church. They approached this ceremony with the same sense of propriety they brought to an observance I knew better, our weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
I wondered what the lodge service meant to them. And I wondered if the weekly partaking of Communion meant any more—to them, or to me . . .
Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
