Book Review: The Sacred Meal by Nora Gallagher

The Sacred Meal by Nora Gallagher is part of the Ancient Practices Series, but it's actually the first of her books that I've read. It gives a different insight to communion than I typically study or even consider. That's not a bad thing!

Ms. Gallagher and I obviously come from different backgrounds, ecclesiastically, and probably theologically, however, there were many insights that she gave to the meaning of communion, or the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper (depending on your ecclesiastical background) that I found interesting. She points out that this is a time of waiting on the Lord and listening for Him to speak, then receiving from Him, and afterward, even through the sense of "jet lag," letting the experience "seep in into [our] cells."

What Gallagher calls "practices," and this being but one of them, I have always considered "traditions," which is the term I find most Nazarenes use. I found I liked her term as well, because the traditions that we practice are what make us Christian.

If you'd like to have a deeper understanding of Communion, and of how it is a practice of the Church because it draws us closer to Christ, I'd definitely recommend The Sacred Meal. I have a few pastor friends I think should read it. If Communion is truly a practice—a tradition—of our faith, as are Baptism, Prayer, etc. then we need to better understand it. And I, personally, believe the Nazarene Church as a whole needs to place more emphasis on it. But that's for another post.

I'd give this one four stars!

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