Kelly sat in church as she’d done hundreds of times. This time, however, Christ spoke to her. As she received communion, she heard him say, “This is my body . . . This is my blood.”

As sacred and personal as her experience was, Kelly felt compelled to share it. She resisted, but the impression grew more powerful until she finally shared with other congregants.

Not long afterwards, Kelly’s ecclesiastical leader called her into his office and told her it was inappropriate to say such things. He insisted transubstantiation—the miraculous transformation of the Lord’s supper into Christ’s literal flesh and blood—was not doctrinal and she should not speak of her spiritual experiences at church.

Kelly was devastated by his statements and attitude. She hadn’t attempted to teach doctrine; she’d merely shared a personal experience. She hadn’t interpreted the message; she’d only shared it.

As Kelly spoke with me, I turned to Matthew 26:26-28 and read of Christ blessing bread and wine, giving it to his disciples, and saying, “this is my body . . . this is my blood,” the exact words he’d said to Kelly. If the metaphor Christ chose for himself two millennia ago was good enough for him, perhaps it should be good enough for his professed followers today.

Don’t let religion squelch your spirituality.