Microcosms

"Have a good time, and I'll see you back at Communion time."

Some sentences, given the right moment, resonate. I've never found it to be a waste to investigate why.

Let's break this one down, one phrase at at time.

It's in the imperative. "DO THIS". It's not a wish, or a prediction; it's an order.

It uses the verb To Have. Synonyms include: to possess, to own, to hold. There's an implicit responsibility or intention in having something, and it places no burden of de facto change. It isn't, for example, "Be good", or "Join in good". The first implies, pretty strongly, that the listener is not good already and the second implies as strongly that there are others out there whose good-ness you should emulate.

'Good' is different from 'fun', or 'amusing', but does not, despite what some people would tell you, prohibit fun or amusements! 'Good' does not speak so much to how you will enjoy the time, but more to how you will feel after the time. 'Good' does also stand usually as a measurement of the whole.

'A time' has boundaries... is finite. This good thing that you are ordered to do will come to an end. Keep it in mind.

Other cultural equivalents for this first phrase would include "Have fun", "Stay out of trouble, "I hope you have a good time", "Enjoy yourselves..." but they don't carry the same concrete or literal meaning. And they're not very Anglican.

Second phrase: 'I'll see you back at Communion time'

There's a lot of semantic games that can be played with this one. There's some threat in this one... a little R of J... 'I'll see you, but you may not see me' and 'It'll be communion time, but there's no guarantee you're getting any"

A tonne could also be written about 'back'. 'You will return here'. And note that the speaker makes no mention of bringing the listeners back in any way, but underlying the phrase, supporting it, is the certainty that the listener WILL return.

And as fun as it would be explore those phenoms, there's more interesting resonance in the word 'communion'... Substitute in 'sharing', and we're into some interesting territory. 'I'll see you at the time when we will all share together'.

While it's a recognizable moment, it's also not definite. Not "11:30", not "in 45 minutes"... at the time that will come when it comes...

(For those of you playing at home, you can now form your own metaphors for the differing times at which children return to the church)

So I find the two phrases together form an interesting microcosm of a Christian faith statement.

HAVE A GOOD TIME, AND I WILL SEE YOU BACK AT COMMUNION TIME