[OBW]

My experience with the Lord's table, both in LC days all the way up to this last Sunday has been varied, but usually rich and meaningful. At some level, there has always been a sense of ritual that is not so clearly meaningful. But the environment has also been significant. Although that has been as varied as a lengthy LC "Table meeting" to the very contemplative time that we now enjoy when we have the Table in our assembly, it is a time in which we stop to actually consider the most significant act of Jesus during his brief time on earth.

As for having a list of things to tack on a wall, notice that in my account, there is almost nothing to put there. Personally, I should have some sense of my own present condition and attitude with respect to the body. There is nothing to put on the wall for that. In fact, it almost makes partaking of the Lord's table a right conferred upon salvation, therefore almost no reason for exclusion. Any discussion of why someone should be excluded is almost only needed for those who might have responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the table (whatever that is).

I think that, while the RCC's transubstantiation is wacko heresy, there is something to meaningful ritual. You spend a few minutes focused on the truth of something you do not want to take for granted or let fade in your mind. And in a period in time in which there was a significant illiteracy rate, things like reciting creeds was an important way to make your core belief stick. The table shows us (among other things) the spilled blood of the crucifixion and the one source from which many grains of wheat have sprung.

And yes, it is easy to turn ritual into a mindless thing that is done as a salve for the conscience. That fact is not a slam on the ritual, but on the participant.