We eat a piece of bread – We drink a glass of wine – it becomes part of us. Robert Noznik fills this out.
“We meet the food in the ante-room of the mouth and greet it there. We probe and explore it, surround it, permeate it with juices, press it with our tongues against the roof of the mouth along the hard ridge directly above the teeth, place it under suction and pressure, move it around. We know its texture fully; it holds no secrets or hidden parts.”
(The Examined Life. 1989. Pp 56-57)
Whatever we eat demands a sacrifice from someone or something. Eating hints that we are all involved in Sacrifice – ‘in making life holy by giving something back. There is no avoiding this. In his wonderful book, ‘Scientific Proof of the Existence of god will Soon be Announced by the White House! Da Free John writes, (pp 33-34)
“Those who cling to one or another religious or spiritual way must realise that the foundation of all such ways is the disposition of sacrifice … Such a disposition freely anoints the world with help and intelligent consideration … The whole Earth, the Cosmos, and every separate being is a great Sacrifice! … Let us give ourselves up, so that each temple – each bodily and mental person – may become a temporary and perishable altar of self-giving into the Mystery that pervades us.”
Jesus gathers His Life in his Hands and gives Thanks. His Life is not His own, and since all is Grace, He turns to the Giver of Life in Gratitude. Now filled within, He flows without. The life freely given becomes the life He seeks to give away.
Jesus is a Great Teacher. Gratitude, Sacrifice and Transcendence must move as one Dance. If we just look up, we risk being aloof and uninvolved. If we just give thanks but do not move to Sacrifice, we risk we only counting our Blessings without realising they are separating us from the communion of love. If we Sacrifice without gratitude, we risk the cul-de-sac of resentment. We pour ourselves out and find we are empty so we stop giving ourselves away.
Don’t forget to consult the One who knows how to break bread and pour out his life blood.
