What Jarred said about cultural appropriation got me thinking. So did the 'holding the bread too high at Communion' thing.
So is holding the bread up high (to at least face height) during Communion simply an irrelevance about which no-one in their right mind should be bothered? Or is it an example of an act which can be perceived as misplaced cultural appropriation?
If I go to a Catholic Mass, I expect the priest to hold the wafer up, the bell gets rung, and the theology is that at this moment the bread actually becomes the body of Christ. I personally may or may not believe this, but it's what I would expect.
In a denomination which has very much the view that 'the bread stays bread' and Communion is purely an act of obedience and remembrance, anyone can lead the service and break the bread.
So, in this setting, anything which carries overtones of (1) needing a priest (2) the priest offering a sacrifice (3) the bread becoming Jesus' actual body is seen as inappropriate.
Personally, I don't care - I've had communion with wafers, brown bread, white bread, teacake (bread with raisins in), poppy seed bread; wine, grape juice, Schloer, cranberry juice, raspberry juice, Ribena/other blackcurrant juice, non-alcoholic wine (which has the scary label "Not to be drunk as a beverage"!). I think the most moving communion I had was as part of a small group and we used crisps and Coke, because that was what we had.
But I do have to admit that seeing the bread lifted high in that particular church service jarred.
So is that inappropriate cultural misappropriation? Or just tradition?
Unexpected November Knitting Challenge
3 hours ago
Interesting points. Of course, I think things get especially tricky when you're talking about single, simple gesture, like lifting up a loaf or piece of bread. It's something that can be done in so many settings and for so many different reasons, even the Communion setting. At that point, I think it's wise to ask, "Why are we doing this? What does it mean in our context?" It may turn out to be a case of cultural appropriation. Or it may turn out to be a case of similar acts, different meanings/reasons.
ReplyDeleteGranted, it's good to ask the questions anyway. In general, I think it's usually good for us to stop and ask ourselves why we're doing something. Even if there's no reason to suspect there's any cultural appropriation or syncretism going on.