I’ve come to really appreciate this communion hymn. We sang it here on Sunday. I especially appreciate the first line of the 5th stanza that describes the worshiper at the end of communion:
Too soon we rise; the vessels disappear.
The feast, thought not the love, is past and gone.
The bread and wine remove, but you are here,
Nearer than ever, still my shield and sun.Feast after feast thus comes and passes by,
Yet, passing, points to that glad feast above,
Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
The Lamb’s great marriage feast of bliss and love.
I appreciate the line "Feast after feast thus comes and passes by." It is as though every single time we come to the table we’re so appreciative of what is offered there and what we truly receive. But yet there is still a part of us that aches for that feast that will never end. But soon, soon…
A Shepherd's Story 