Many Tables

Download or read book Many Tables written by Dennis E. Smith and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2001-01-31 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens inside the church doors is its liturgy. It is there that life and fulfillment should be found, but too often today liturgy seems stale and lacking in vitality. The problem is not a lack of faith so much as it is a lack of life in the liturgy itself. In our liturgies we have let our emphasis on preserving traditional forms and expressions overrule attempts to give vital expression to the life and faith of contemporary participants. This is especially true with that part of the liturgy that is known as the Lord's Supper or eucharist. Though the practice of this sacrament is still central to the piety of most Christians today, here especially there is often a lifelessness and lack of connection with life as it is now lived. This need not be, however. The tradition is alive with meaning that we have too often overlooked. And liturgy can more effectively address the contemporary situation if we can learn better how to apply it to the aesthetic and symbolic language of today's culture. --from chapter 1