Reflection
By Tim Brown
SHUTTERSTOCK
A meal of thanksgiving W
hen I learned that the Greek word eucharist can be translated as “giving thanks,” a few threads of my life wove together in a way that continues to bind
me tightly. This binds me to my grandparents’ table in Miami
Springs, Fla., where Grandma stands at the counter shav- ing corn off the cob, throwing it into a skillet with cream and serving it up hot. We had “smashed corn” every time we visited. Not because my grandparents liked it so much, but because they knew we did. That and my grandmother’s fried chicken. Passed around the table, we eagerly received it all with smiles of gratitude. Every time, just for us as guests and loved ones and family. This also binds me to the time Jesus took an ordinary
meal and made it extraordinary. When he became the Word. Bread and wine were passed around in regular fashion. But now, connected to these words of promise and love, they had the power to change things. The power to change guests into friends and loved ones. And now this binds me to every Sunday, as we pass
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meal of thanksgiv- ing. Thanksgiving meal.
around bread and wine in my faith community. This meal prep is also simple. We stand at the counter, mixing and kneading, baking the bread. We pop open the wine. We say words full of promise, ancient and new and translated, around the table. And guests are changed into friends and loved ones with
smiles of gratitude. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between a
meal at my grandmother’s table and the communion rail. Maybe that’s part of what weekly eucharist does. It binds the sacred and secular, you and me and God, weaving us together. Euchari s t . A
Author bio: Brown is pastor of Luther Memorial Church of Chicago.
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