Lingering at the cross
Before United Methodist pastors get fully ordained, they have to write a pretty long paper touching many points of theology, church life, the ministry, the sacraments, etc. Then they go in front of a small group of other pastors (and a layperson or two) and...Read moreI firmly believe that when Jesus himself wanted to explain to his disciples what his forthcoming death was all about, he didn’t give them a theory, he gave them a meal. Of course, the earliest exponent of that meal (Paul, in 1 Corinthians) insists that it matters quite a lot that you understand what you are about as you come to share in it; but still it is the meal, not the understanding, that is the primary vehicle of meaning.