Along the Emmaus Road

As you enter the dimly lit room you notice there is a big round table in the center of the room. People are gathered at the table engaging in quiet conversation. There is a beautiful cloth covering the table, a round loaf of rustic crusty bread, and a single candle. Someone notes that it is much like sitting around a comfortable kitchen table.

The candle is lit, the evening’s roadmap reviewed and prayer is offered. The group gets out of their seats and gathers in a corner of the room. Scripts are distributed and the group reads the Emmaus Road story adapted from The Message while walking around the room. The candle flickers on the table in the center of the room much as the setting sun did in the story.

The group sits around the table again where the smell of the freshly baked bread fills the air and prayer is offered: Stay with us for it is evening and the day is almost over. Thank you for revealing yourself through the Word and the breaking of the bread. Make known your walking with us each day and feed us to sustain our journey. Amen.

“On the Road” a short poetic reflection of Luke 24 by George Slanger from Theology Today, January 2003 is read by one of the travelers at the table. Following the reading a prayer is offered: During the long and lonely walks in our lives that seem filled with sorrow and doubt, you are there. During times of hurt which seem difficult and confusing to bear, you are there. Open us to the strangers among us who may be hungry, who may need to be invited, who may be the face of Jesus. Open us to you, the One who can make the deepest loneliness and the longest journey full of purpose and hope. Amen.

Another traveler reads “Emmaus” by Rowan Williams from Connexions. Responses to the cadence and imagery in the poem are shared and prayer is offered: Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The travelers gathered around the table share a time of reflection and refreshment. The breaking open of the crusty loaf makes the sound of low rumbling thunder and it is passed around the table for all to eat. Cool water is poured for each person, the sound of clanking ice cubes and pouring water reminiscent of pebbles dropped into a pond. An Emmaus image (above) by Chinese Christian artist He Qi is reflected on. A reflection is shared and questions discussed (and taken away) as food for thought for our ongoing journeys...

• Who do you share your journey with? Who are you not inviting to join you along the way?
• What distracts you in your daily routine and in your longer journeys? What “feeds” you along the way… in your work, in your relationships, in your faith?
• Where do you find spiritual connections or encounters along the way? Where do (or could) you find refreshment or sustenance along the way?
• How do (or could) you break out of the rut of not seeing God in the midst of your life? How do (or could) you connect with others to share moments of hospitality?

A final prayer is offered to send those gathered on their way and into the crisp spring evening: O God, Help us to “find” Christ, follow his path and share ourselves along the way. Mark us with your hospitality and join us to others to share the journey wherever the road may lead. Inspire us to live with a radical receptivity and authentic honesty in our lives, communities and world. Amen.

P.S. The closing line in a great French Canadian hymn from the Les Petite Soeurs de Jesus and L’Arche Community ran through my head as I wrote and reflected on the experience…

I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey;
But courage will come with
the sound of your steps by my side.
And with all of the family you saved by
your love,
we’ll sing to your dawn at the end of our journey.

Wishing you fellow travelers peace along the way,
+Bill Petersen

Road Trip... from loss to life

From Dr. Luke’s bio of Jesus comes this moving story of two friends on the road… friends or frolleagues or maybe even marriage partners… two people who had at least one thing in common: They were huge fans of Jesus. They had been certain that he was The One: the surge of power that they’d been hoping for.

Then the Power Surge got himself in deep trouble. Arrested. Executed. And a big “The End” scrolled up on the film credits. In one night they lost their dear friend, their big dream, and probably their whole concept of who God is. That’s a lot to lose.

You know what it’s like to have all the oxygen squeezed out of your lungs? when the loss is so intense you’re not so sure you even want to breathe again? Yeah, I know it, too.

Luke says, “They stood still… looking sad.” Don’t we all know what those words mean? Numbness, confusion, swimming in losses. Treading. Dreading. Wondering if anything good could possibly come from all that is your life.

What does it take for these two crushed Jesus-fans to get on the road again? Well, it takes… Jesus. He comes and joins them and listens intently and opens up worlds of new meaning.

Does Jesus still do this? I think so. I know so. And it’s by jumping into stories like this one that it can happen. Jesus steps onto the road beside us as we struggle together, as we see and hear Jesus in one another and in ourselves. It’s happening every Thursday night as by the way gathers. And you’re invited to hop on the road anytime.

This Thursday’s Bread for your journey will be a time to explore this Road to Emmaus story and the road that is your own journey. Your guide for this walk will be Bill Peterson, someone who’s on my Top Ten of people most likely to spot Jesus about to join me on my road. That is to say: I know Bill to be one who can nail that insight when I’m wandering and wondering what’s up… so it’s easy for me to see God busy at work in and through him.

Do come by the Crowne Plaza if you can Thursday night, 7 pm. Or come back here to the blog one of the following days for a virtual walk down the Emmaus road. There’s nothing like being with others who know what it’s like to lose a dream, to stand still looking sad – and then to learn to live again.

And by the way, if you want to immerse yourself in the story on your own, it’s from Luke 24, and you can click on the title of this post for a link.

Peace,

Kari

Journeying inside the resurrection story

As you’re stepping into the room, you are met with the welcoming smell of fresh grainy bread and the sweet scent of lilies. You see a circle of chairs with a large wooden cross in the middle. Placed around and on the cross are different items from the natural world as well as a lovely grouping of candles, glass, and stones. You chat a bit with others before settling down on a chair, taking a deep breath to relax from your day’s activities.

As the central candle is lit, you’re asked to consider which of the items in the middle of the circle reminds you of what state of mind you’re in as you enter into this gathering time. You look more closely at what’s lying there with the cross and candles. There’s an Easter lily trumpeting its blooms, some forsythia branches whose golden flowers are giving way to greening leaves, and a dried-up daffodil plant looking lifeless, except for the bulbs hiding beneath the soil. All of them seem to be saying “new life” in some stage or form, and you ponder which one best nails down your mood.

Then you’re invited into a time of thought-provoking readings and reflective prayer, and you’re given a hand-out on which the readings are printed. The first reading is a saying of Jesus, from the Gospel according to John, chapter 12, verses 24 and 25, read in two different translations one after the other. You reflect on how interesting it can be to see how different emphases come out with the two perspectives.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2012:24-25;&version=72;
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2012:24-25;&version=65;
A candle is lit and words of prayer are spoken.

The next reading is a brief quote from Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation:

In order to become myself I must cease to be what I always thought I wanted to be, and in order to find myself I must go out of myself, and in order to live I have to die.
Again, a candle is lit and words of prayer offered.

Before the third reading, pens and pads of paper are passed around, and you are invited to mark the moments during this resurrection story that are somehow intriguing or stir up some feelings or questions inside. Here’s the link to John’s story of the empty tomb:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2020:1-18;&version=65;

For that “moment” you chose, you’re asked to enter into that part of the story as a “witness” to what’s going on. Your witness might be a person or an angel, or it might be an inanimate object… like the linen shroud, the stone rolled away, or the tear leaking from Mary’s eyes as Jesus says her name. You write down on your pad of paper a few lines about what that “witness” has to say about that piece of the story. It’s pretty cool to imagine yourself in the story that way and to hear the creative thoughts of others.

The group begins to discuss who are the characters in the resurrection story and how we are like them… or completely different from them. There’s some discussion about how the other gospel writers introduce other characters as well, telling the story of Jesus’ new life in a different way, because each author has in mind a different audience with their unique situations and faith challenges.

Your eye returns to the natural objects near the cross, and you and others think through where you are in your own faith journey and your ability to feel and see new life happening in your relationship with God and with your world…

Maybe you’re like the trumpeting lily, feeling joyful and free… maybe more like the daffodil, whose blooming days are over but there’s plenty of life down in your rooty bulb… or maybe you’re growing and greening like the forsythia branch… or maybe some other image is better for you… You have a chance to discuss this with others, and it feels good to see that they also have lots of questions about what Jesus’ resurrection means, how it could be possible, and what it has to do with our relationships with God…

Well, that’s a taste of our gathering for this week. If you’d like to chat more about what it means to be like that seed that falls into the ground, dying in one way, but rising up to something completely new… come to Bread for your journey next week, either being physically present at the Crowne Plaza or virtually present here on the blog. And feel free to give me a call and we can set up a time to talk and listen over coffee. (603-533-5274).

Peace and Joy,
Kari

Where in the story are you?

Which Disney prince/princess are you? What character from the Wizard of Oz? What Pokémon are you? which Jane Austin hero/heroine? which one from the Twilight saga? and on and on it goes… the list of quizzes you can take.

Next thing you know, they'll have a quiz to see which quiz is most revealing of your TRUE identity.

No one likes quizzes in school, so how come people like them so much on Facebook? (other social networking sites, too?)

Why do we do these quizzes when we’ve got so many real things we’re supposed to be doing? It’s more than just a fun diversion, don’t you think? Is it that we like to figure ourselves out? or we like to proclaim who we are for all the world to see?

Lots of them have to do with seeing what character you are in a particular story. When stories really get to us, really move us, we like to put ourselves right into the action, the character development, the drama… so we can get lost in it all, or maybe get found…

You know, I haven’t seen a quiz yet that asks, “Which character from the story of Jesus’ resurrection are you?” And I’m intrigued by the prospect. It’s a wild story. And putting yourself into it could be revealing. Easter is too important a holiday to let it go by after you’ve eaten enough chocolate eggs. How do you put yourself into this great drama of life-giving death and tomb-busting new life? (click on the title of this post to read one eye witness account)

Is there anyone out there who has seen such a quiz already? anyone who wants to create one? I’m planning to make one in the next 2 days, but it’s very possible you could do a much better job than I, so do let me know. Or just let me know your ideas and I’ll include them.

This Thursday night, ‘by the way’ is hosting our weekly gathering at the Crowne Plaza… and we’ll be putting ourselves into the resurrection story, seeing where we fit in and what the story can reveal about us (and about the God who’s the main character of the story). I’m really looking forward to it. Whether you live nearby or far, far away, I hope you can join in this conversation. Any thoughts that my questions here have shaken loose in you, please share…

Emitting Easterjoy,

Kari