Transubstantiation. As kids, we were told that the bread and wine of the Eucharist were transformed into the flesh and blood, respectively, of Jesus Christ.
I can still recall when this nonsense came to a head. At Sunday School, one of my older brothers and I were in the class being lectured to regarding this. My brother - who was utterly fearless when it came to clergy (I wouldn't develop that admirable trait until much later) - asked that if he vomited up the Eucharist, would it look like bread and wine or would it look like human flesh and blood. The nun informed him that to all outward appearances, it would look like bread and wine, but the underlying reality would be the flesh and blood of the Saviour. Alec knew that would be the answer. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a penny piece and said, 'Sister, this may look like an ordinary penny, but the underlying reality is that it is my Scripture assignment for the week.' The nun told Alec he was being impious and called him a few mild invectives. Alec replied that he was only impious to outward appearances - he was actually, in some underlying reality, a large pickled squash.
Alec dug himself a deep, deep hole over that episode. He was punished at school, and Da meted out extra chores for him. Not because he didn't believe in the magic trick, but because he was snotty to an elderly nun.
Boru
I can still recall when this nonsense came to a head. At Sunday School, one of my older brothers and I were in the class being lectured to regarding this. My brother - who was utterly fearless when it came to clergy (I wouldn't develop that admirable trait until much later) - asked that if he vomited up the Eucharist, would it look like bread and wine or would it look like human flesh and blood. The nun informed him that to all outward appearances, it would look like bread and wine, but the underlying reality would be the flesh and blood of the Saviour. Alec knew that would be the answer. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a penny piece and said, 'Sister, this may look like an ordinary penny, but the underlying reality is that it is my Scripture assignment for the week.' The nun told Alec he was being impious and called him a few mild invectives. Alec replied that he was only impious to outward appearances - he was actually, in some underlying reality, a large pickled squash.
Alec dug himself a deep, deep hole over that episode. He was punished at school, and Da meted out extra chores for him. Not because he didn't believe in the magic trick, but because he was snotty to an elderly nun.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
