The Saturated Host

As I waited in line to partake of the elements during Eucharist, I decided to opt for intinction (the practice of partly dipping the consecrated bread, or host, into the consecrated wine) since I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to chance spreading my illness. Things did not go quite as planned. The wine was low, so I had to dip deeply into the chalice. In the process, somehow I dropped the host into the wine. Both the chalice bearer and myself stood staring at the floating wafer for what seemed to me a long time. Many theological ruminations made their way into my mind in those moments. But technical terms such as "accidents" and "real presence" quickly gave way to more practical considerations, namely: "How do I get that wafer out of the wine?" I considered drinking deeply from the cup in an effort to gulp down the host in the process - kind of like you do when you're going for one of those tiny marshmallows in a cup of hot chocolate. But in a split second I figured just as the marshmallow often eludes me, the same would be true of the wafer. And there I would be in front of the Lord's table and the rest of the church gulping down the wine like an overindulgent Corinthian...a glut, a lush, drinking condemnation on my own head. Fortunately, our chalice bearer, having more wits than I, deftly reached into the cup and retrieved the saturated host. I walked back to my seat grinning broadly, I think with a bit more color in my cheeks.