Communion

Comment:

Thanks for the kind words about Bible Alive! on Unity Online Radio. I love doing the program, and it’s good to know that you’re listening each week.

In establishing the ritual of communion with his disciples just before his arrest, Jesus was adding a new dimension of spiritual understanding to the already-existing ritual of Passover in the Hebrew faith. There is a certain amount of ambivalence within Unity about communion, so I can’t speak for anyone but myself. To some, it is rooted in an old belief about our relationship to the divine and so not appropriate to the new awareness that Jesus Christ taught and embodied. Others are fine with the metaphysical idea, but do not feel that the physical elements (the bread and the wine) are necessary. 

And that’s true, of course. Nothing in the physical realm is “necesssary” for our spiritual growth. But it can certainly be helpful. I offer a communion service, with the elements, at least twice a year—at Thanksgiving and during Holy Week—to embody and anchor our newfound realization that we are meant to be the channels through which the creative energy of the Divine expresses into the world. To Charles Fillmore, the bread and wine represent the substance and energy, respectively, of the Divine. By sharing the elements in an energy of spiritual community, we are individually and collectively committing ourselves to maintaining our spiritual purpose as our highest priority. I’ve actually found it most meaningful to make communion a part of our Easter service, rather than in its traditional place before Good Friday. The deep spiritual awareness and commitment it represents seem to fit best with the celebration of our ultimate triumph over all human limitations.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed