“Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24).
What do you remember of your first “communion?” I was baptized on Sunday, October 10, 1965. I was twelve. We had no baptistry so after assembly, we drove in a small caravan to the seaside where my father baptized me. There is a small picture of the event it in my office.
An elderly lady missionary had her birthday celebration that day and after my baptism, we went to her party at the YMCA (they had a room large enough to hold the crowd). Then, a few hours later, we met with a congregation near there (no evening service for us) and I was served the Lord’s Supper. I knew I had that day crossed over and was now counted one of the People of God. From that day to this, every Lord’s day, I’m reminded of that fact.
To a goddaughter at her first communion C.S. Lewis wrote: “Don’t expect (I mean, don’t count on and don’t demand) that . . . when you take your first communion you will have all the feelings you would like to have. You may, of course, but also you may not. But don’t worry if you don’t get them. They aren’t what matter. The things that are happening to you are quite real things whether you feel as you would wish or not, just as a meal will do a hungry person good even if he has a cold in the head which will rather spoil the taste. Our Lord will give us right feelings if He wishes – and then we must say ‘Thank you.’ If He doesn’t, then we must say to ourselves (and Him) that he knows us best. . . . For years after I became a Christian I can’t tell you how dull my feelings were and how my attention wandered at the most important moments. It is only in the last year or two that things have begun to come right – which just shows how important it is to keep doing what you are told.”