Monkey see, monkey do.

So today at church we observed communion. I love communion because it's a great reminder of Jesus's death on the cross and everything He did for us through that death. But this time it was different than usual.

Before taking the bread and the "wine," the congregation turned to the front of the hymnal and read something entitled "The Ritual of the Last Supper" or something to that effect. The pastor read a paragraph, then he and the congregation read the next paragraph together. I didn't read it, just because it didn't mean anything to me. I didn't know what the words meant, and I didn't know why we were saying it. So instead I just prayed that God cleanse my heart and make everything right between Him and I before I observed communion. After I read what they were all reading together, it meant pretty much what I was praying for, but it seemed odd. Now, I'm not smack-talking reciting our beliefs or anything like that, but when we do these things we have to think, "Do I mean what I'm saying, or am I just doing this because I'm supposed to?"

When we say things over and over again, like prayers, or creeds, or whatever, it tends to lose meaning. Most of the words that were used in what we read before communion didn't make much sense to me. And I've had that problem before with other things that churches have recited. If I don't know what I'm saying, and if it's not coming from my heart, then I'd rather not say anything at all. Empty words are just chaos and noise to God. But when we say things, when we pray, when we sing with open and earnest hearts, it's a joyful sound.

Like I said before, I'm not degrading churches for reciting things together, I'm not degrading memorized prayers, nor am I degrading any other memorization methods churches use for getting a point across. I just don't believe that the majority of church goers actually understand what they're saying, and if they understand it, I don't exactly believe they mean it with their whole hearts. Not my place to judge, but definitely my place to stand back and examine my heart and the fruits of others.