The Last Cup

The Last Cup

We recline,
The last bits of meat, figs, and dates roll around
The bronze, the wood plates and cups - a testimony to
Enemies made friends through the long journeys now
Complete in this room, this upper place prepared
By a Stranger.

Take comfort in the smiles, the
Laughter that will soon be forgotten, soon fleeing fast
As you scatter into the night, frightened by
Swords and clubs, the chains, the
Whips and chords wrapping tight around
My Bleeding arms and legs as I walk,
Never to see
My Face like this before you again.

Conversation quiets, the chuckles hush, and
Attention clings to me again like so many
Afternoons before the crowds in my
Galilee, these boys and men still fresh
From lives lived among them who now
Remain Outside it all.

"Why is this Night distinct among all others?"
They stare, and I lift this wheat, simple flour without yeast
Fired in clay and baked for sustenance
As it was in generations past.
"Remember the Night long ago, the
Cradle of Liberation rent from the blood of our
Enemies, we fled into the Night and found
A desert, a death deeper than the one we feared
Under the whip and thong of Egypt.

"In that place we were named Children, adopted and
Gifted the voice, written in stone and ringing in the
Ears of the Great Leader, Moses-Shepherd who spoke
With the One atop the Mountain long ago. Our desire
broke the bond time upon time, and we saw war, we saw
Our great Shrine thrown down, Empires grinding our bones
Into the mortar of their expanse, from the East, the North, South, and
Yes, the Great West that claims us now.

"Once we took a lamb, its blood upon our doors as a
Sign to the Divine of our allegiance. Now, I Pass
Over into the Sacred Space to give you this.

The Bread is broken.

Take it, and eat of it, all of you. For this
Is My Body, broken and shared for all of you. What
Your eyes do not see now in faith you shall understand
In the coming days when I walk this road unto the end,
These crumbs swept into the dust for the dogs to consume.

"Once we drank this wine to honor our people, the
Blessing invoking the Presence of the Holy, our memory
opened unto the sharing and passing of this, this very Cup.

The Cup is lifted.

Take this, all of you, and drink from it. For this
Is my Blood, the Blood that now speaks of the New, the
Everlasting Love-bond between the Creator and your Being.
Can you drink it to its dregs?
Do you know what awaits you at
The End?
It is the eternal death into which I now walk, the
Great Road of Life that is found
only this very Way. Your
nets, your tax rolls, your swords will be long rotted, burned, and
Rusted as you give your bodies to the flames, your necks to the swords,
Your hands and feet to the cross, as I do now in this joy of mine.
So remember, remember this: You need
This Cup, it is your life,
so remember, friends remember,

Drink deep, Beloved of mine.

Do this in Memory of Me.