An Olive Wood Cup
A Short Theology of Holy Communion
By Nita Gilger
Little did I know that wandering the hillsides of the beautiful Umbrian town of Assisi, Italy would lead me to such a deep fullness of life. Having spent much of my career in ministry in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Church, communion has always been an important part of worship for me. It is central in so many ways.
As I walked the streets of Assisi with my woodworker husband, we began to look through many shops for just the "right" chalice and paten for me to take home. * I did not want anything ornate or gaudy. That was not Jesus or the point of communion for me. I wanted a simple olive wood chalice. We must have held 15 or more olive wood chalices before locating just the right one. We sought a cup where the beauty and grain were just so. Finally, the perfect cup appeared.
Joyce Rupp in her book, The Cup of Our Life, says: "The cup is a container for holding something. Whatever it holds has to eventually be emptied out so that something more can be put into it. I have learned that I cannot always expect my life to be full. There has to be some emptying, some pouring out, if I am to make room for the new. The spiritual journey is like that--a constant process of emptying and filling, of giving and receiving, of accepting and letting go."
This olive wood cup and all the rich memories connected with it are still serving me well all these years later. I have used this chalice to break bread and drink wine in worship many times, but I am always humbled by the carpenter, born in Bethlehem, who walked among the lepers and the olive trees and taught the world about love. This is a love that knows no end and continues to fill and re-fill my cup over, and over, and over again. I am called to be that same kind of love in a broken world where healing and hope is desperately needed.
-- Nita Gilger
Footnote: We were co-leaders on an Intergenerational Study trip exploring the evolution of Western Christianity through art and architecture. Primary lecturer was Dr. Ken Lawrence, professor at Brite Divinity School and Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX. He was a world-renowned expert in the field of religious art. My part was to help guide families with children on the trip. I offered a child-friendly understanding of deep and vast theological concepts of some of the world's most incredible cathedrals and works of art. Our joint explorations were so very rich. There was no dumbing down at all because it became apparent very quickly that the children had some of the purest, most amazing understandings of God of any of the travelers. I would go so far as to say the children taught more to the adults on the trip than we taught them. Their sense of wonder and innocence helped them to access the Divine very readily. The children were our teachers. Their insights were brilliant and holy.
As I walked the streets of Assisi with my woodworker husband, we began to look through many shops for just the "right" chalice and paten for me to take home. * I did not want anything ornate or gaudy. That was not Jesus or the point of communion for me. I wanted a simple olive wood chalice. We must have held 15 or more olive wood chalices before locating just the right one. We sought a cup where the beauty and grain were just so. Finally, the perfect cup appeared.
Joyce Rupp in her book, The Cup of Our Life, says: "The cup is a container for holding something. Whatever it holds has to eventually be emptied out so that something more can be put into it. I have learned that I cannot always expect my life to be full. There has to be some emptying, some pouring out, if I am to make room for the new. The spiritual journey is like that--a constant process of emptying and filling, of giving and receiving, of accepting and letting go."
This olive wood cup and all the rich memories connected with it are still serving me well all these years later. I have used this chalice to break bread and drink wine in worship many times, but I am always humbled by the carpenter, born in Bethlehem, who walked among the lepers and the olive trees and taught the world about love. This is a love that knows no end and continues to fill and re-fill my cup over, and over, and over again. I am called to be that same kind of love in a broken world where healing and hope is desperately needed.
-- Nita Gilger
Footnote: We were co-leaders on an Intergenerational Study trip exploring the evolution of Western Christianity through art and architecture. Primary lecturer was Dr. Ken Lawrence, professor at Brite Divinity School and Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX. He was a world-renowned expert in the field of religious art. My part was to help guide families with children on the trip. I offered a child-friendly understanding of deep and vast theological concepts of some of the world's most incredible cathedrals and works of art. Our joint explorations were so very rich. There was no dumbing down at all because it became apparent very quickly that the children had some of the purest, most amazing understandings of God of any of the travelers. I would go so far as to say the children taught more to the adults on the trip than we taught them. Their sense of wonder and innocence helped them to access the Divine very readily. The children were our teachers. Their insights were brilliant and holy.