I was on the phone today with a represenative of a major religious supplies company. She and I are phone friends who have a common friend here in Berryville and we make each other laugh. Giving her a chuckle with "Jesus Jerky," she offered this story.
There is a product on the market that is a self-contained single-unit wafer and juice packet. (As for the name of the product, I am having a hard time in rememberence of its name.) I have always gotten a laugh out of this product, but I could see its use. For example, in a military situation where carrying bread and wine may not be convenient this may be a good idea. But to see it in a catalog or in the stores makes me wonder what war we're going to be fighting in Arkansas any time soon.
Oh wait, some folks are still fighting the War of Aggression.
Back to the story, she said that they sampled this product in the office. According to my friend, the wafer tasted like the plastic it was wrapped in and the grape juice had a tendency to ferment and the packaging blow up. Ewwwwwwwww....... This supply company quickly removed the product from the shelves.
I laughed out loud! I told her that I could only imagine the story that came with the person making the return; and I would love to hear it. She told me that she didn't have the pleasure of the experience, she found out about it in a memo from the national headquarters.
That's funny. We just laughed. Could you imagine the product recall notice coming in on law firm stationary with a corporate memo attached saying the elements of the Lord's Supper may be dangerous? That's funny.
Of course, from a liturgical point of view, the Lord's Supper is dangerous--even revolutionary! It must be received seriously and reverently, but liturgy and theology are for another post.
This is funny.
