By Charlie Fuller
Just a few days ago I attended a funeral at the National Cemetery over on the west side of town. While the heat was almost beyond description, there were other forms of discomfort there as well. There was the discomfort of a grieving family and friends. There was the discomfort of the absence of one we loved so very dearly.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow told us that “into every life a little rain must fall.” And that’s certainly true. Some of us see a little rain. Some of us see a flood like a hurricane or tropical storm. But in the midst of the darkest and wettest of storms, there are glimmers of memory. Memories of light and joy and peace.
Let’s acknowledge that we are sometimes disconsolate. To be disconsolate is to be unconsolable. Pain comes. Loss comes. Rain comes.
In some Christian traditions, what we call the Lord’s Supper or Communion is referred to as a “Memorial Meal.” It’s a time of remembering. Through the bread and the cup, memories are triggered. Memories carried through a couple of millennia. Memories of a last meal, memories of a teacher and friend gone, memories of an execution on a cross. Memories that undoubtedly led to the deepest kinds of anguish.
But there are other memories to acknowledge as well. Stories about teaching on a hillside, feeding thousands who were hungry, jokes and stories over the fire as Jesus cooked up some fish.
Among the several things we remember this morning as we take the memorial meal, let’s remember this: Until the morning comes, it’s still dark. Rain will come to us all. While Jesus might not always hold an umbrella over us to protect us from that rain, he will walk through storms alongside us, holding our hand and holding us close with his arms of love around our shoulders. And until joy returns — which it will — the presence of Christ will be enough. May we open ourselves to that presence and stay available to the one who walks our journeys at our side.
It’s the presence of Christ still here in our midst that we remember this morning as we take the bread and the cup.
Thanks be to God!