just when I thought life was wierd enough

Our church uses a common cup for communion. Each person wipes it before passing it to the next person. The alcohol in the wine is said to act as a mild antiseptic: I have no idea if that is true.

With the spectre of swine flu sweeping the nation, government advice is to avoid common cups and plates. So we have to think about 'going Baptist' and using individual cups. I think we may be using miniature medicine cups tomorrow: but I've been googling around to see what else might be on offer at a reasonable price.

Some of the more bizarre offers I've found include:

• Portable communion sets. Would you like yours in silver or Pewter? In a leather case? Old English style, or Georgian?
• Or perhaps you'd like pre-filled cups with wafers. "Our prefilled communion cups and wafers include both the wafer and grape juice in one sanitary, single-serving sanitary container." I confess that this one has me giggling uncontrollably. The word "incongruous" is just insufficient to cover it.
• A helpful Time article explains some of the trials of military chaplains, overcome with paper communion cups (enough to make a real presence adherent shudder a great deal, I wager).

It all seems a far cry from

On the night before he died,
he came to supper with his friends
and, taking bread, he gave you thanks.

The Eucharist is a mystery. Looking too closely at it makes it mundane, to be sure. I guess we have to, from time to time. But let us worship with thankfulness, too.

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?