The Sacrament - A Sacred Reminder

A few days ago, I blogged about the Sacrament and about a bowl of bread cereal. I talked about how the cereal reminded me of the Sacrament, which is a reminder of Jesus Christ, but I also said that I didn't want to link the Sacrament, a sacred ordinance, to a mundane and trivial bowl of cereal. Reminders like the Sacrament should be repeated as frequently as necessary to help us remember, but things which are sacred, like the Sacrament, should be kept sacred, not made trivial or common.

The main difference between the Sacrament and my usual breakfast cereal (besides the containers in which they're put, the temperature of the water, and the milk, sugar, and hot cocoa mix I mix into my breakfast), is that the Sacrament is blessed with sacred, Sacramental prayers, and my cereal is not. Of course, I pray for my breakfast, too, just as I pray for my other meals, but I don't use the Sacramental prayers to do so! The only times I utter the words of those prayers are when I'm blessing the Sacrament, or when I read them from the scriptures or a gospel manual. Those prayers are sacred, so we keep them sacred by not saying them any more frequently than it's respectful to do so. Those sacred, Sacramental prayers are what turn ordinary bread and water into the sacred Sacrament.

Though the initial substances are much the same, just regular store-bought bread and normal tap water, the Sacrament is holy, and my cereal is not. The Sacrament is blessed with sacred prayers, and my cereal is not. The Sacrament is the Sacrament, and my cereal is not. I don't need to worry about cheapening the Sacrament with my breakfast cereal because my cereal is not the Sacrament.

It is, however, a reminder of the Sacrament, which in turn reminds me of Jesus Christ whom I, in the sacred, Sacramental prayers, promised to always remember. As I've said before, "If my breakfast raises my thoughts to the subject of Jesus Christ, that's a good thing." We're supposed to remember Christ always, which may be the reason why all things testify of Him, even my morning breakfast. It doesn't have to be disrespectful, and bread and water don't have to be sacred to remind us of things that are. My breakfast can perform one of the main functions of the Sacrament, serving as a reminder of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, without diminishing the value of Christ, the Atonement, or the actual Sacrament. My cereal is just a regular reminder. The Sacrament is a sacred one.