"When I fall down on my knees. . .

"When I fall down on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me" So goes the words of the old folk hymn. Yesterday I attended another United Methodist Church in Madison--probably one of the oldest Methodist buildings in the city. God bless 'em, they've added a lift which will make the building accessible to our differently abled brothers and sisters! But they have not changed the old communion rails. This may be the only United Methodist Church in the city where one can still receive communion the way Wesley preferred we receive it--on our knees! (Though I will add that Wesley himself describes a communion service he conducted where he allowed communicants to freely choose their posture for reception--even so, he was pleased that the majority chose to kneel.)

Of course, the method of reception of communion has nothing to do with our salvation, but the practice of kneeling slows things down a bit and gives one time to really ponder what it is we are about.