On Sunday, we concluded our 6 week study of bread that the Revised Common Lectionary gave us. I have said often that I have no problem with a 6 week study of any part of the life of Jesus, but if we're going to focus on something like bread, we could have expanded our vision and included a parable or two. That chunk of John doesn't lend itself as nicely to a 6 week study. Or maybe it's me.
Still, we persevered, and by Sunday, I wanted to remind us that Jesus doesn't call us to a life of drudgery, a dry bread consumed while traipsing through the wilderness kind of life. No, Jesus calls us to a festive life. I wanted bread to match.
I thought about some of the special yeast bread that I make at Christmas, but it looks like the bread I usually make. It might have almond paste or something special, but from a distance, you can't really tell. Up close, you might not be able to tell. I decided to use pumpkin bread, which looks and tastes very different from our usual weekly communion bread.
We worshipped outside in the pavilion, which meant we communed by intinction, dipping the bread into the common cup. I wondered what pumpkin bread dipped in wine tasted like, but I needn't have worried. A few parishioners commented on how delicious it was.
As I handed the bread to people, about 5 of them said, "Yum" or "It smells so good." Many people seemed more engaged than usual, perhaps because it was so unusual to have pumpkin bread at communion. I tried to hand everyone a piece of bread with the outside crust on it, so that it wouldn't all fall apart into the chalice.
It's an interesting idea, using different breads for communion, thinking about what insight these breads might give us into how to live a Christian life, how these breads are like Jesus. It's been a fun few weeks, but I'm ready for something new to chew on.
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