This week we will have the opportunity to come together as a community and partake of the Lord's Supper.  It has recently come to my attention that not everyone here feels equally comfortable or feels like they entirely understand the purpose of Holy Supper (or the power it holds for our spiritual life).  With these things in mind, I was overjoyed to encounter this 1977 New Church Life article by Lorentz Soneson (who some may know as the father of Lori Odhner, Frank and Louis Rose's niece).  I found it to be such a comforting and uplifting treatment of the role of Holy Supper in the development of our relationship with the Lord.  I share it in the hope that it will inspire in you a hope for your spiritual life, and a desire to come before the Lord to strengthen you in it.

Love and Peace,

Ethan  

In all churches that recognize the holy supper as a sacrament, the act itself is yet considered one of the most holy forms of external worship. The sanctity and holiness of the Word itself has been doubted, yet the holy supper has survived. The reason for this, we are told, is because in these brief but most solemn moments the worshiper is centering his attention on the Lord alone, without distraction. As a result, they perceive the sphere of heaven close at hand.

"For the sake of this affiliation with angels and at the same time conjunction with the Lord, the Holy Supper was instituted.”  (Swedenborg, True Christianity 238)

Another concept, universally associated with the holy supper is the doctrine of repentance.

"Can there be anything better known in the Christian world than that a person ought to examine themselves? For everywhere...before approaching the holy supper, people are taught and admonished to examine themselves, to recognize and acknowledge their sins, and to live a new and different life." (Swedenborg, True Christianity 526)

But common sense dictates that the mere tasting of the bread and wine cannot in itself cleanse evil. The act, then, must be symbolic of something else. The natural food must correspond to the essential spiritual food that feeds the heart and mind of the communicant. A sincere worshiper knows that a merciful Lord alone can see into the heart of the repentant, and provide the nourishment they need. The confession of sins, privately, before one's Creator has a definite cleansing affect on the conscience. But as in every trespass in life, confession of one's guilt is only the beginning. It must be followed by a life that is amended for the confession to have meaning.

Examination and confession, of course, are essential and prerequisite. But if one lingers in this state, without turning to the Lord for both instruction and help to move on from there, one falls back into the hands of [hellish influence]. Evil spirits enjoy prodding our memory of trespasses. They entice us to dwell on our evils. Their ambition is to make us feel both helpless and hopeless. Their goal is to create doubt, hesitation, and eventual immobility. Their cunning approach intends to take away our trust in a merciful and forgiving God who alone can remove [these things] from us. By keeping our imperfections before us they hope to blind our understanding with remorse and self-pity.

However, the Lord through His angels endeavors to show us the next step. Once we admit to our failings and short comings, we are to turn to God for the strength and insight to combat the hells. Admitting to our own weakness is initial; but acknowledging that the Lord alone is omnipotent is crucial. When we continually reaffirm this belief by approaching the holy supper table to receive symbolically His goodness and truth, we are released for the moment from the grasp of hell. The very act of reaching out for His spiritual food, represented by the bread and wine, invites the sphere of heaven.