Ritual, Routine or Remembrance?

Having loved Carol E. Hind’s previous book – Petitions from my Heart, A spiritual guide for effective prayers and being a follower and a friend on WordPress for several years, I was keen to purchase Carol’s latest book, “Ritual, Routine or Remembrance? – A candid look at Christ’s communion table.

In this book, Carol unpacks communion and more importantly the meaning and reason behind this reverential practice. I must admit that prior to reading this I was “guilty of religiously observing this tradition” without having a proper understanding of what I was doing, let alone why.

Carol shares how she started to sense that communion determined by her church calendar alone was not “often” enough and so started to incorporate this practice at home.

She tells the story of her journey of gaining more and more understanding of the significance of communion and the Christian faith.

The book includes a wonderful section on preparing ourselves to come to the communion table – a reflective and prayerful time to ensure our hearts and minds are set right with God before we partake of the emblems.

I particularly love this element of the practice. It sets a reverential intention that the practice and the space we are about to step into are sacred and God-ordained. To be taken mindfully and respectfully.

To follow, are beautiful prayers that guide us in taking communion either on our own or in small groups.

Communion at our church went “on hold” from the first lockdown and remains so even though things are now much freer. At this point, the practice of communion feels … lost. I believe this gives us more reason than ever to take Carol’s teaching to heart and to bring Eucharist into our homes.

My partner and I now take communion before our evening meal, and it’s become a meaningful reflective practice that anchors our faith as well as marking the end of our workday thoughtfully.

I believe “Ritual, Routine or Remembrance?” is a gift for our times and one I would highly recommend.

I leave you with these words from the book:

“Each time we proclaim Jesus’ death, we are reminded that we too have access to God’s resurrection power (Ephesians 1:19), a power against which all sickness, disease, anxiety, fear and poverty has been defeated. We not only proclaim this, but we can also, through the medium of communion, avail ourselves of God’s resurrection power – the power of a supernatural and victorious life”!