God as a Holy Host

        I will admit that throughout my life I have heard or sung of a "Holy Host" and thought nothing of it. In doing so I missed out (as I all to often fo) on a truly beautiful image from mere lack of care. Then, yesterday, I read C.S Lewis describe humans as parasites: 

God is a "Host" who deliberately creates His own parasites; causes us to be that we may exploit and "take advantage of" him. Herein is love.  This is the diagram of love himself, the inventor of all loves.

         This image truly struck me with its effectiveness and accuracy for several reasons. The first was its appropriate imagining of the order of things; not only are we and all creation feeding on God but we were created to do so. The idea that we were made simply to enjoy God is so simple and yet so often missed or forgotten. 

        The second is its eucharistic relevance. We often hear "take, eat, this is my body broken for you" and "Drink it all of you, this is my blood of the New Testament, which was shed for you and for many" but we imagine only Christ's transubstantiation in the meal and not of our own role. To think of Host and parasite is to remember that there is a lesser creature (us) necessitating the breaking of the body and shedding of blood. 

         The third is the nature of our reality, while we are less real than Him who created us we are still real and felt by God. We are like flies to a great lion, unable to harm God but nonetheless able to be felt; still, when we do ill or act in hatred it pains God although it does not damage him. God made us real enough so that our evil is able to pain him and that is truly significant and showing of his nature. 

        The final reason I love this image is its implied imperfection, normal parasites are too significant (we could never harm God) and normal hosts to insignificant. The gap between an animal host and parasite is infinitely too small to be accurate. Yet, despite the uncrossable gap between parasite and host we are united and loved infinitely. Thus the host is "Heavenly", it does not seek to destroy us nor to be rid of us, it loves us to death and beyond. 

         To imagine willing ticks or fleas upon one's self and then loving them is beyond our human comprehension, yet the moral distance between us and fleas is far less than of us and God. 

Thanks and Praise