The Holy Grail, in popular opinion, is conceived of as an object, and that it is only necessary to take possession of this object in order to benefit from it. Taking possession may be extremely difficult, as in the quests undertaken by knights in Arthurian legends (and only the very best and purest could hope to qualify), or in the escapades of Indiana Jones and friends. The object itself is often viewed as a chalice or other ceremonial cup, traditionally used by Jesus at the Last Supper, and in some accounts, taken to Glastonbury by Joseph of Aramathea. Others state that it is another kind of object, perhaps the Ark of the Covenant, or a rock, like the Kaaba in the centre of the mosque in Mecca. Whilst many of the questing stories can be seen as allegories, or having layers of meaning beyond the literal, there is something fundamentally disappointing about this kind of story. If so much good can flow from a single object, where is God in all that? Doesn't this just reduce the divine to a single object, just like the Ark of the Covenant itself? The idea of a sacred object of central importance is present early in the Old Testament, but then fades away, perhaps as a result of an increasing understanding of the nature of God. In some ways, this view of the Grail seems like a means of leading minds who can only conceive of divine concepts in material terms to a higher truth. More cynically, it seems that whoever holds the Grail can claim power over others; the Indiana Jones stories certainly imply that this was the motivation for the Nazis to seek the Grail.
An alternative view of the Grail is that of 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail', and popularised recently in 'The Da Vinci Code'. Here the Grail is not an object, but a bloodline, and specifically descendants of Jesus himself, via a secret marriage to Mary Magdalene, who was said to have journeyed to France after the crucifixion. Little is said of specific descendants, beyond that they include the Merovingian kings of France, but the idea is clear: that there is a line of direct descent from the Christ, who form a kind of spiritual aristocracy. There are many sub-texts surrounding these stories (as there are with the Grail-as-object version) involving secret societies, conspiracies and cover-ups, all of which may make up an intriguing story, but which tend to serve as a distraction from the disappointment of the central tenet itself. What does it matter if Jesus was married and had children? Does that alter the significance of anything he said or did? If the sacred object is actually a sacred lineage, why does that matter to the vast majority of people not so descended? Again, a cynical view would be that power over others is decided not by ownership of an object but by the family into which one is born. How does that advance the kingdom of God?
At the service, thoughts like this came to me as we re-enacted the Last Supper, which is of course a key event in both Grail traditions. The revelation that came to me was that both the object and the bloodline ideas miss the point of this event. It is not important to be in possession of the utensils that were present, nor to be related to one of the participants. The Holy Grail itself is really the presence of Christ at the communal table; if you like, the Grail is Communion with Christ, based on an ongoing relationship expressed in both everyday events (eating a meal) and important ritual observances (Passover). Hence the Grail is neither an object (which can be lost or destroyed) nor a bloodline (highly exclusive and prone to failure), but a relationship with God, which is available to all people at all times. In Christian tradition the Last Supper has been seen as the institution of a new ritual (the Eucharist) based on an older one (Passover). The ritual itself is of little importance, except for what it says about the relationship between people and God, which is that God works with people, rather than through objects or particular families. Jesus washing the disciple's feet is a key image; God not only knows and cares about individual human needs, but is prepared to act in ways seeemingly unfitting to accommodate them. In other words, God humbly walk with us, whoever we are or whatever we possess. That is something well worth questing for.