Johnny Cash officiating communion for Rick Rubin

"We're one, but not the same...we get to carry each other.."

Somehow the lyrics to U2's "One," playing in the audio jukebox below (in the Johhny Cash version produced by Rick Rubin), chillingly and fittingly soundtracks this story:

It seems Johnny often prayed with and shared communion with Rubin. What a centered set thing to do, St. Johnny!
As a result, Rubin continues the practice to this day (Makes me wonder if he in turn served it to Linkin Park during theor God-haunted collaboration here)..

There is even audio interview with Rubin about this here,
( huge sombrero tip to Ben Edson.)

From USA Today:

Rubin initially struck Cash as a hobo. As their friendship deepened, they took daily communion together. "We had a surprising amount of common ground, although on the face I can see it looked odd," Rubin, 43, says. "We both loved music and the history of music. We were interested in spirituality -USA Today

From David Kamp interview with Rubin:

Cash, though a devout Christian, didn’t dismiss Rubin’s patchwork spirituality as hooey. A fellow bibliophile and comparative-religion junkie, the antithesis of the stereotypical southern rustic with a suspicion of fancy book learnin’, he delighted in his producer’s pan-theological curiosity. Out of their frequent discussions of religion developed an odd custom, certainly unprecedented in producer-artist relations: for the last few months of Cash’s life, he and Rubin took Holy Communion together every day, even if they weren’t physically in the same place, and even though Rubin, who was born Jewish and doesn’t profess allegiance to any one faith, is not technically eligible to receive the sacrament. At an appointed time, Rubin would call Cash and Cash would “officiate,” instructing Rubin to visualize the wafer and wine.

“I’d close my eyes,” Rubin says, closing his eyes, “and he would say [Long pause, intake of breath], ‘And they retired to a large upper room for the Passover feast, and Jesus picked up the bread, took a piece of the bread, and passed the bread around. And he held up the bread and he said, “This is my body, which is broken for you. Eat, and do this in remembrance of me.”’ [Eyes open.] Then Johnny would say, ‘Visualize the eating, swallow. Feel it. Wait a minute.’ And then he would say [Eyes closed again], ‘ ... and then he picked up the jug of wine. He poured the wine, and he said, “This is my blood, which is shed for the remission of your sins. Drink, and do this in remembrance of me.” And they all did drink.’”

“Even after he passed away,” Rubin says, “I continued doing this with him. I would say that, for between probably four and five months, it felt exactly the same, his presence was much more available—I could get quiet and I could hear him say it. After that, for some reason, it started changing a little bit. I don’t know enough about the afterlife to know why that would be, but something changed. As time has gone on, it’s a little harder to do. But I still do it.
-From David Kamp interview with Rubin

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