I remember some time ago going into a bakery, asking for a pull-apart, and having the girl at the counter asking me if I wanted it sliced. Do people really do that? Isn't the whole point of pulll-aparts, well - pulling them apart? That what makes them taste so nice...
Well, pull-apart loaves aren't just great to eat, they also carry theological meaning. You see, I come from a church tradition where the Eucharist (or Communion, or the Lord's Supper - call it what you like) is celebrated with a miniscule cube of something resembling bread, and a thimble-full of grape juice. I think we need to repent of this. I do believe we are sinning in not having wine. But the bread could also use some reforming. That's where pull-aparts come in.
The advantage of pull-apart loaves at the Lord's Supper is two-fold. Firstly, one has the distinct advantage of being able to take a hunk of bread. This would mean we would be actually *eating*. But secondly, there is great signifiance in eating all from the same loaf. 1 Corinthians 10:17 - "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." The unity of the loaf represents the unity of the body!
Let's introduce pull-apart loaves for Communion.
Some of you will have seen this before, but it's worth re-reading. It's (apparently) an actual essay written by an
applicant for an American university.
College Application
by Hugh Gallagher
ESSAY QUESTION: IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?
I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.
I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.
Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang
gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.
I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.
I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I
know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.
I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in
full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won
bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.
But I have not yet gone to college.
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