Sacramental Strain

NOTE: This was supposed to have been published late November and is out of chronological order ...was saved as a draft instead.

It has been very interesting for me to watch myself move through discussion of sacramental theology.  As I grew up Catholic and then went to the high school seminary to discern whether or not I was going to go on to become a Catholic priest, the Sacraments were very important to me.  Taking Communion, go to Confession, feeling to ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit years after Confirmation still resonate with me today.  Indeed, I still so reverence those Sacraments that when I go to Mass with my mother I do not go to Communion as I am no longer a member of the Church and believe differently than I once did- but I do genuflect when going into one of the pews.

I feel supremely uncomfortable with Dr. Tom's assertion that an integration of the Sacraments into contemporary Unity praxis is required.  It feels backward-oriented, derivative, unauthentic.  I think that the more profound approach to contact with God is through real change, growth and not ritualized or symbolic.

That said, however, perhaps there is a place for bringing in authentic rites of contact with the Divine.  I believe that those times should transcend previous generations'

I also like Dr. Tom's idea of using some of the old sacraments, such as communion, more often in our Unity services.  I think that if the meaning of these practices can be described in a way that is deep and expanded, a new feeling of depth, love and joy can be brought out of an ancient practice, thereby utilizing the collective energy surrounding this sacrament and merging it into modern thought and modern times.  Perhaps mixing some new sacraments with the old ones could create a more meaningful link with our past traditions and yet provide a chance to express and create new ones.  Could there be a sacramental experience surrounding modern music in the church for instance?  Could we create some modern chants in english to accompany some really amazing modern music and collectively have a sacramental experience?  Ideas like this seem to blend old and new in an honoring way allowing us to be joyful of our past and creative with our future.  I find this idea of finding new ways to create sacramental experiences in Unity an exciting and uplifting thought.