Communion
The last time that I saw you
You gave me your body
The last time that I knew you
I drank your blood
The last time I touched you
You burned right through me
You came to undo me
I know that now
I know now
What do I know now
I think you might be
Better than my beliefs about you
Better than my doubts, too
It’s not that you answer all my demands
But you always stay my reckless hand
You give me communion
And I can’t say just why
You give yourself to me
While I’m putting you on trial
This is my undoing
You’re cutting like a knife
The breaking of a bone
To be set right
[First let me say— I know the song says communion is my undoing, but the undoing very well may actually come from that infernal squeak in my piano 👀👀 it’s almost unbearable, i know, but I’m pushing through. We’re doing the best we can, all of us, including this ol’ instrument. So grace to us all. That aside… this rough shape of a song tumbled out of me in a rush the other day, which is a sweet reminder of how music often used to come to me, years ago. I’ve been trying to find my way back to writing music, trying to relearn how to discover the songs that want to be written. Sharing here always feels vulnerable cuz the online space is weird and clangy when what I want to share is usually so raw, but it’s an exercise in anti-perfectionism and joy, really, so I hope someone enjoys it!
I was thinking about the absurdity of many of my beliefs (and doubts) about God while standing in line for communion the other day. Communion is one of those metaphors of Christ that lost people from the v beginning… in John, when Jesus said he’d give his body for the life of the world, said he was the “bread of Heaven” that everyone should eat… he lost some folks with that one, which honestly seems fair. There are so many things that are hard to make sense of. I can get tangled up in both my knowing and my unknowing of them. But communion is the miracle of presence, sometimes right in that place of tangling. Communion of spirit, I mean. Presence does not hinge on right belief or absence of doubt. That is the gift; that is the miracle. He gives me communion.]
About the author: Liana Stone writes from beneath a sometimes literal pile of the most delicious tiny humans you ever saw. She and her effervescent husband, Jason, currently call Oregon home, having moved back from Zanzibar in 2020, where they served with All Nations. Liana had the privilege of not only attending the first Capetonian Church Planting Experience (CPx) in 2008, but attending a second CPx in Cape Town with Jason in 2012 (Double graduate here, people). Both Liana and Jason have a deep love for the All Nations family and are grateful for the way their time working within All Nations has shaped and impacted their life.
Staying Connected or Learning More
Help share this and other blogs with your friends and ministry leaders! It would also be a huge help if you could please follow us on social media via the links below! Thank you!
If you would like to receive leadership updates, link here to stay current on All Nations International’s news and prayer efforts! To learn more about All Nations today, visit: www.allnations.international!
Are you wondering if you are wired to go? This area on our web site will help you!
We have plenty other resources (devotion, book club, events) and a monthly global prayer for the neglected! You are welcome to join us.
Give today to see the neglected globally reached — the least, the last, and the lost!
www.allnations.international
Reaching the neglected globally — the least, the last, and the lost since 1993.
