“He took the cup, said thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you." ~ Matt 26:27
Most of my Mom’s family worked in
the sun. Shade trees wasted valued
farmland; they built houses for shade.
The hard, physical work created a ravenous thirst; every lungful of hot
air robbed more water from their bodies.
There were no fountains of fluorinated drinking water on the
farm. When thirsty, they went to an old,
rusty pump outside Grandma’s machine shed for cool water from deep in the
ground.
It often took many strokes from the long lever in order to gather just one gallon of water from the hand-dug, rock-lined well. Sometimes it worked … many times it didn’t.
A communal metal drinking cup, dented from experience, hung
from the old pump. They all drank from
the same cup then hung it back for the next thirsty soul.
Preventing dehydration was
always a priority. They’d rinse it
quickly before sipping from it, not worrying too much about germs, but mainly
to wash away any chicken feathers, bird poop, or anything else that might be
hiding inside the mug.
As kids, we loved using that old pump. The water was free and on blistering hot
days, we couldn’t get enough of it.
There was something truly magical about eagerly waiting for cool water
to emerge from deep below the earth.
It was also a place to gather; a respite from hard
work. We’d rest up, share stories, and
clown around. It was an opportunity to
build respect, empathy, and friendship. That
pump was an important symbol of daily life; once as common as today’s kitchen
faucet.
Grandma’s farmhouse is gone now, along with the machine shed
and that old pump and rusted cup. Gone
too are the good times we had on the farm – back in the days when “neighbor”
was both a noun and a verb. Drinking
from an old communal drinking cup taught us all a lesson.
As Christians, we are nourished because we’re united. Because you and I, and the fellow over there,
and the person working two jobs to stay ahead of the bills, and the angry neighbor,
and the single mom sleeping under a bridge, can be nourished by recognizing our
dependence on each other, and even more, by recognizing the gifts of each
other.
You’re all invited to drink from the Cup of Christ.
So come, you who have much faith and you who have little;
you who have been here often and you who’ve not been here long, you who tried
to follow and you who have failed. Come,
because it is the Lord who invites you to drink from His Silver cup and read
from the Holy grail.
