Chapter 2: Eucharisteo

Seed: Something God impressed upon me today (and before I realized what I was doing, I spoke it out loud--freaked myself out a little bit) was, "One sin brought condemnation on all, and through one death, redemption came for all." I kept trying to think of what that had to do with this chapter. Then it hit me. He could break the bread that last night with joy and thanksgiving because He was already looking at the outcome. He wasn't focused on the death (or the scourging, or the spitting, or the judgment, or the climb carrying the beam, or the nails being pounded into his flesh), but on the JOY set before Him. The joy set before Him was me! It was us! What a thought. And what does He ask of us? Eucharisteo. The recognition of what He did, the way He made, the Grace He extended, the LIFE more abundant that we have because of His obedience to the Father. If that isn't something to be eternally, madly, crazily thankful for, I don't know what is.

Water: Living the yes to Eucharisteo, to Thankfulness, Joy, and Grace, must be intentional. It is anything but natural. The natural response is to complain, to say that what He gives/allows is not good, not right, not what I had in mind, not welcome, not appreciated. The natural response is selfish and humanistic and buried in dying flesh.

Bloom: Eucharisto breathes life, beauty, delight. It notices details in the moments and doesn't let anything go by without seeing deeper meaning, whether "good" or "bad". This kind of joyful, graceful thanksgiving frees me to fly above what would slam me to the ground in this life. Illness. Death. Anger. Mistreatment. Betrayal. Past abuses. Haunting memories. Nightmares. Regrets. It all transforms when viewed through the lens of Eucharisteo. We cannot taste the mystery enough to understand it until Glory comes. But we can eat it and give thanks for it moment by moment knowing He will make sense of it all. He is the only one who can.