11.16.2008

the airport and communion

After picking up Davis from his Sunday School class, we wandered back into the sanctuary to meet up with some friends. He was checking out the set on stage for an upcoming presentation of Scrooge when something caught his eye: the gold container for the communion cups. He lifted the lid curiously and my two friends and myself harmoniously but gently told him to put it down.

"But what is it?"
"We can talk about it later, okay?"
"Okay."

Later was only ten minutes when we were in the car on our way home. Communion is incredibly symbolic and therefore difficult to explain to a four-year-old who understands things literally not symbolically. We have had to go to the airport a few times and each time Davis watches for the blue and white sign to know which way to go. This was my starting point: a symbol. After understanding this concept we moved to the very special dinner that Jesus had with his disciples before he died on the cross.

In the end, he actually understood that the bread and wine are symbols of Christ's body and blood. I explained that Jesus told us to eat that same special dinner often to remember all that he did on the cross. He asked when the special dinner was and when Jesus died. I gave him a rough number and he was amazed that the Church (which is God's people) has been eating that same special dinner for that many years.

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