Written by Richelle Thompson
John 6:35 (NRSV) Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Her lips had not touched a chalice for forty years. On her annual visits from Germany to a small town in Kentucky, she sometimes came to church, but she stayed in the pew while others went forward for Holy Communion. When she lost a child four decades ago, a priest criticized and belittled her instead of offering solace and comfort. And for her, the eucharist had become a symbol of betrayal and deep wounds.
But on this day, she rose. No one could hear the trembling of her heart or see the steel it took to hold out her hands to receive the bread. In this moment, she offered grace to a church that had forsaken her, and she received it from a Savior who had never left her.
After the service, I took her hand and squeezed. It was time, she answered, in halting English and from a broken heart that had started to heal. It was time.
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