The Healing Symbols in the Lord's Table

At the Lord's Table, we actually enter in to union with our God as His Body on earth. The name itself, Communion, says it: "union with...” At the Table, we draw nigh to God without fear and with expectation that he will "feed us with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of His Son" (Book of Common Prayer). We truly detach from lesser things and attach to the Higher. Partaking of the Body and Blood of our Lord is the climax of our worship, the epitome of our soul's longing for Him and there is great power in this divine transaction.


For most Protestants, this kind of language is foreign. Communion is often seen as a symbolic memorial service that commemorates Christ's death, but conveys no special power or grace. We have been so trained to view anything symbolic as empty or dead superstition that we don't even really have categories for understanding the Sacraments we partake, much less appreciating a Sacramental understanding of reality. This is a great pity because it means we don't understand the healing power in the Lord's Table, the healing contained in the symbols of our unity with God. "Symbols bind up reality for us", says Leanne Payne. They are part and parcel of our daily life, whether we acknowledge them or not.