灵命日粮 仪式真义 你们应当如此行，为的是记念我。 —哥林多前书11章24节

[Hongzhi Xu]

仪式真义

在成长的岁月中，我家有项规定，就是晚上不可以带着怒气上床（以弗所书4章26节）。因此，我们所有的争执和分歧都要在睡觉前解决。此外，在睡觉之前我们还会做一件事，爸爸妈妈会对我和弟弟说：「晚安，我爱你。」而我们也接着回应：「晚安，我也爱你。」这是我们家独特的睡前仪式。


最近，这样的仪式对我来说更是意义深刻。母亲因肺癌而生命垂危，在临终前的那段日子，她昏昏沉沉地躺在病床上，对外界愈来愈没有反应。但每天晚上我离开她的床边时，我还是会说：「妈，我爱你。」纵然那时她已经不太能说话，但她仍会回应：「我也爱你。」小时候我从没想过，这个睡前仪式竟在多年后让我感到如此珍贵。


有时候，一些仪式因为时间久了或一再重复，会让我们忘记其中的意义，但有些仪式是要提醒我们重要的属灵真理。第一世纪的信徒混乱圣餐、违背圣餐的本意，但使徒保罗并没有阻止他们继续举行圣餐，反而告诉他们说：「你们每逢吃这饼，喝这杯，是表明主的死，直等到祂来。」（哥林多前书11章26节）


与其放弃仪式，或许我们更应该重新找回其中的意义。

主啊，当我们领圣餐时，


帮助我们不会将它视为例行公事。


愿我们能藉祢所设圣餐仪式，


时时记念祢，并心存感恩。


任何仪式的意义都可能被淡忘，

但不代表它没有意义。

Do this in remembrance of Me. —1 Corinthians 11:24

When I was growing up, one of the rules in our house was that we weren’t allowed to go to bed angry (Eph. 4:26). All our fights and disagreements had to be resolved. The companion to that rule was this bedtime ritual: Mom and Dad would say to my brother and me, “Good night. I love you.” And we would respond, “Good night. I love you too.”

The value of this family ritual has recently been impressed on me. As my mother lay in a hospice bed dying of lung cancer, she became less and less responsive. But each night when I left her bedside I would say, “I love you, Mom.” And though she could say little else, she would respond, “I love you too.” Growing up I had no idea what a gift this ritual would be to me so many years later.

Time and repetition can rob our rituals of meaning. But some are important reminders of vital spiritual truths. First-century believers misused the practice of the Lord’s Supper, but the apostle Paul didn’t tell them to stop celebrating it. Instead he told them, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26).

Rather than give up the ritual, perhaps we need to restore the meaning. —Julie Ackerman Link

Lord, when we observe the Lord’s Supper, help

us avoid the trap of letting our observance

grow routine. May we always be moved with

gratitude for the wonderful gift of ritual.

Any ritual can lose meaning, but that does not make the ritual meaningless.