Tonight, I did something I've never done before.
I had never even known such an event existed.
The only way I found out about it was because I washed clothes on Thursday.
Seriously.
I try to go to Sandfly Laundry on that day of the week as I enjoy talking with the young woman who is the attendant.
We talk of a variety of things, so it's a fresh experience each time.
That day, it had been more than two months since we last spoke, as she had been absent last month when I'd watched my clothes tumbling.
So we talked of whatever came to mind, as we always do.
This time, it was vaccines and the zoo and churches and religion...
and that's how I got invited to the Memorial Dinner for Jesus.
Never heard of it?
Nor had I.
Then she brought up the famous painting of Jesus and the disciplines at the table.
"Oh, you mean 'The Last Supper'?", I suggested.
Yes, that was it, she confirmed, after a brief discussion about that word "supper".
That's when she invited me to the annual event at her church.
It was to be virtual this year of continuing pandemic and they had been encouraged to invite non-members to partake.
As I know very little about Jehovah's Witnesses and wanted to know more, I agreed.
I'm glad I zoom'ed with them tonight.
I have a better understanding not only of that faith, but also of other religions that follow Jesus' path.
I very much liked that the person in charge of the meeting - for that's what it was, more so than a sermon - referred to the Bible and read aloud each scripture cited.
That practice allowed all to know the words were not being paraphrased or changed to fit the meaning imparted during the talk.
It struck me as something Grandpa would have done during his days as a traveling Baptist minister.
The practice very much lent credence to the talk.
I admit to being confused at one point, though.
According to the speaker, only 144,000 souls would be going to heaven, to serve as the governing body alongside God, after Jesus' second coming.
Everyone else would have their eternal life on Earth.
Say what?
I had heard naught of that.
According to the speaker, only those who were part of the 144,000 should partake of the Memorial Dinner - which is also known as Communion by other faiths - and all others are to abstain from consumption of the meal's elements.
Say what?
I had most certainly never heard of that!
Then the speaker related the story of the 102-year-old woman who devoutly partook of the Memorial Dinner for Jesus for more than nine decades, never missing the annual event.
Did she believe herself to be one of the 144,000 destined for heaven?
She did not deign to do so.
She consumed the bread and the wine in case God chose her to be one of those 144,000.
That's right.
As I learned, God will be choosing, from all the multitudes of people who have lived on Earth, the 144,000 that will be having eternal life in heaven.
God will be choosing.
That's why it's important, the speaker said, for all to dine at the Memorial Dinner of Jesus, as no one knows if they are part of the chosen few.
I understand.
This consumption of the elements is not a monthly event, as begun in the Catholic faith three centuries after Jesus' death or has practiced in the Protestant faiths that sprung up after the Reformation in the 16th century.
For Jehovah's Witnesses, this eating and drinking of bread and wine is strictly annual, occurring roughly at the same time as Passover, when the meal was held between Jesus and his twelve apostles.
Remember, Jesus, and his followers, were all Jewish.
So, was tonight Passover?
Well, that will begin Sunday, March 27th, and run through April 4th this year.
According to the speaker, the Jewish calendar has shifted, so this seder is on the first night of the celebration of the Jews' liberation from Egypt.
That's clearly a discussion for another time.
For this meal, the point was to obey Jesus' commandment to "do this with thoughts of me."
And so they did, as did I.
I will also partake of communion on Easter Sunday, with my church, with the understanding now that "The Last Supper" is not synonymous with Communion, but a thing apart.
I will look forward to discussing this at the next session of Clergy Talks, hopefully during the summer months again, as it was last year.
Meanwhile, my thanks to the laundress for this new experience.
i thank You, God, for her presence in my life.
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