Faith: Maybe there'd be less hate if we remembered we're all connected

One of my favorite events on the church calendar happened this past weekend, World Communion Sunday. This celebration crosses denominations as people put aside their differences to share in a communal feast.

Rebecca Davis, who teaches at Union Presbyterian Seminary, says that across the globe we celebrate communion the first Sunday in October as an international show of unity. “When we gather at the communion table, regardless of where it is physically located, it is the Lord’s table and does not belong to a specific congregation of denomination.”

World Communion Sunday started simply in 1933, the brainchild of Presbyterian minister Hugh Thomson Kerr. His mission was to bring churches together to show unity, to show that in some way we are all connected.

I think we’ve forgotten that.

If we remembered that we are connected — that we belong to one another — we wouldn’t be so quick to spout hate. We wouldn’t be so quick to make fun of another’s challenges. We wouldn’t be so quick to laugh at another’s misfortunes.

If we remembered that we belonged to one another, we would recognize and celebrate our differences. We would be quicker to help and slower to pass judgment. We would offer a friendly ear and compassionate support rather than ridicule and mock someone’s concerns.

How much better would the world be if instead of pointing fingers and casting blame/ugliness/etc., we could sit at the table and pass the bread?

My first go-to, in any sort of trouble or problem or difficulty is to bake. I had a friend once tell me that brownies didn’t solve everything. At first I laughed, because she was so very wrong. Then I thought about it. A brownie (or a cookie or a pie or a cake) won’t solve a problem. But what it can do is show someone that we took a minute for them, that we care and we’re in the struggle with them.

Sitting at a common table — passing the bread — is where grace begins, where friendships can bloom. The sharing of a meal is significant because it can be the sharing of so much more. We can share our hearts. We can find that piece of common ground and build a bridge. Mend relationships. We can rediscover that we are connected by love, by laughter, by faith, by grace.

There is always room at this table, where spirits are nourished, and love grows.

Patti Dobson writes about faith for The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact her at:

[email protected]