Reenactment

This past weekend as my wife and I drove south on Interstate 81 through the Shenandoah region of Virginia, we suddenly stepped back in time as we passed the New Market Civil War Battlefield where a reenactment was taking place. We could see the tents and activities of soldiers in camp, the placements of some of the artillery. We had not planned to stop that morning, but it was tempting to do so. I haven't seen a live reenactment before, and it would have been really interesting, no doubt. I believe the New Market event is the oldest such reenactment in the US.

It got me thinking about the importance of reenactments in society today. In addition to battlefield activities like this, there are Medieval societies, and probably others which strive to keep the past alive. Folks involved in these endeavors go all out to achieve as much authenticity as possible.

I participated in something of a reenactment a number of years ago, commemorating the Second Great Awakening - The Great Revival of 1800. People gathered at an old log church building where the first revival services were held, wore period costume, enjoyed learning about the crafts of frontier life, and shared in worship services in the style of the pioneer revivalists.

We do these kinds of things as a means of honoring the ideals and sacrifices in our heritage, and to try to get a feel for what life was like for our forbears in difficult circumstances.

There is a reenactment component to Christian worship, too. For example, when Christians participate in the Lord's Supper - Holy Communion, it is regarded as an act of sacred remembrance. In fact, the Greek word behind our English word "eucharist" has to do with a dynamic form of remembering. It actually foresaged contemporary instant re-play. The eucharist is a form of reenactment of Christ's command to his disciples to "do this in remembrance," to take bread and wine as symbols of his body and blood, experiencing anew the Presence of the living Lord. We re-live the realities of Christ's life, ministry, death and resurrection in this simple act of Communion. In this we find spiritual nourishment far beyond the morsel of bread and the taste of wine.