From October 2001

On Communion:


I.

this is not disposable.

this is not disposable.

do not throw this away.

see this plastic communion
with throwaway cups.
see this safe, suburban grape juice
masquerading as wine.

but see,
this cup holds Life
more precious than rubies
more intimate than breath
more fully blood than blood
and this is not disposable.



II.

this is not consumer-driven.

this is not consumer-driven.

do not consume and then drive away,
stay.

this bread is Memory and Body:
salt. flour. water. alchemy.
dissolved and digested,
then resurrected
in the deep engines of cells,
transforming matter into energy,
fuel to drive the mind and
fire the soul,
and so the Body broken is
burned and Risen whole.



III.

this is not tradition.

this is not tradition.

do not do this easily.

these elements are ever new:
are supernova and Son.
the uncovered face of the Father.
the white-hot holiness of the Spirit.

do not tread lightly on this ground.

but do this.
do this in remembrance of me.
please.
please do not do this easily.