When Christians gather for communion, part of the story we tell is the night in which Jesus ate the last supper. The story goes that he told his disciples to take wine, give thanks, break bread, drink and eat. Jesus told the disciples to do this ritual and "remember me". And to this day, Christians take, give thanks, break, drink and eat and remember Christ.
And when we take communion we mentally think about Jesus - how he lived, what he taught, how he died, etc. This makes sense. The act of remembering is generally something we do to commemorate the past. We remember the love of our grandparent or the less than wholesome qualities of a loved one. We remember the the sacrifices made in wars when we have moments of silence or when we hear a national anthem played. We remember the past experiences of our childhood that shape us as adults. So it makes sense that when we have communion we think about the past of Jesus.
The thing about remembering in the setting of communion is that there is little evidence that the remembering the disciples are asked to do is a cognitive exercise. Jesus gives the impression that the ritual itself is remembering. That is when we take, give thanks, break, drink and eat the body of Christ we re-member Jesus. When we do this act, we are putting the body of Christ together. We are re-membering the body of Christ.
Remembering Jesus in communion is not about an intellectual or cognitive skill. The mystery of communion has little to do with what we are thinking and much more to do with what we are doing. When we eat together, we are putting the body of Christ together. We are re-membering.
This is, in part, why discussions about the physical elements is missing the point. Can it be communion if it is oreos and soda? Should we dunk or have individual cups or share a common cup? Should we use wine or juice?
This is, in part, why discussions about the presence of Christ in the physical elements misses the point. Is it transubstantiation, consubstantiation, sacramental union, pneumatic presence?
This is, in part, why discussions about online communion is missing the point. Can only those who are in physical presence with one another remember the body of Christ?
The remembering done in communion is not limited to the workings of your brain. The remembering done in communion is the act of putting the body of Christ together again, re-membering if you would like. And the body of Christ can be made manifest in the gathering of a group of people as well as in the heart of the individual who has shut their door.