Loading...I don’t know why it still surprises me when I read the gospel and it seems to be speaking to whatever the current situation is, but it happened again with today’s reading.
Today we read the story of the walk to Emmaus, a story of how new life can be found within chaos. Try to imagine yourself, a follower of Jesus, walking down that dirt road — it is the evening of the day that the tomb was found empty, Easter day. You are walking with a friend and talking about Jesus, his teachings, his work and the events of the last week, his arrest, the way he was beaten, his crucifixion and burial in a tomb and now the information that you have heard, that his body is missing.
You have seven miles to go, so you have several hours to talk and wonder. There are many questions and confusing thoughts. Where is his body? Who could have taken it? How could this happen? What do we do now? You express your feeling of fear and loss of dreams and expectations. You had hoped that Jesus was the one who would save Israel. The Israelites have been waiting for many years for the Messiah, the one who would lift up the lowly and fill the hungry with good things. Many, including you, had thought that Jesus was THE One but now your hopes and dreams are gone.
This might not be too hard to imagine right now. The Emmaus road is one we often find ourselves on. It is a road of lost dreams, failures, questions and fear much like the current day situation we find ourselves in.
We know how this gospel story ends. Jesus joins them and eventually is revealed to these followers. They finally understand that this Jesus is the Messiah that they have been waiting for.
What we can learn for this story is that Jesus is with us also on our road. We know that Jesus was drawn to the sick, and needy, those who are broken and scared. And Jesus is with us now. We are meeting him on this road of self-isolation, of fear of the future, and what life will be like when we come out of this crisis — fear of a new way of being.
I think we may be getting a glimpse of our new life after pandemic, and if I’m right, we will be pleasantly surprised. I am thinking of Bishop Currie’s “Way of Love”. We were introduced to this Rule of Life and its seven practices last year. Debbie Stover led a discussion series using the book by Mary Bea Sullivan, “Living the Way of Love”. The seven practices that Bishop Curry identifies as the way Jesus led his life and taught others how to follow his commandment to love one another.
During this time of physical distancing, we have had the opportunity to refine our commitment to the “Way of Love”. I’m going to take a few minutes to review the seven practices of Jesus and reflect on how I see them being followed during this pandemic.
The first practice is Turn. It means to turn away from our prejudices, past resentments and behaviors that prevent relationship and turn toward Christ and his path towards loving one another. In isolation we have been forced to give up our busyness that have kept us from family and friends. We have had more opportunities to turn toward the needs of others.
We, particularly those of us without a house full of children, might have had more time to spend on reading scripture and have found news ways to learn, which is the second practice. I was able for the first time to attend Elizabeth’s Bible study through zoom.
Prayer and worship, — the third and fourth practices — have been at our fingertips throughout this time with the use of social media. I have seen many priests and laity leading worship on Facebook and You Tube. It has introduced us to new forms of liturgy — and new ways to worship.
It seems to me that our focus is now on others more than ourselves. Physical distancing and self-isolation is in and of itself a way of caring for others. We have seen many ways that people are being blessed daily — and that is the fifth practice. Yes, people singing from their balconies in Italy, family members visiting their loved ones through their nursing home windows, crowds cheering for the medical staff at shift charges at hospitals, hospital staff cheering for recovered patients as they return home, neighbors placing a roll of toilet paper in neighborhoods’ mailboxes, offering to make grocery or pharmacy runs for others who cannot risk going out.
There are really too many stories of people blessing others and going — the sixth practice — into danger’s way to help others to list them all.
And finally, the seventh, Rest. The last practice, and the one that many of us found the most difficult is Rest. We have discovered that rest can be redemptive. Going for a walk, talking with friends and using our gifts are ways of renewing ourselves so we can have the energy and spirit to love others.
Molly, my daughter-in-law, and I have been crocheting facemask extenders. The elastic of the facemask can make your ears raw when wearing them daily. These little extenders keep the elastic off of the ears and have been eagerly received by medical personnel.
The disciples discovered on the road to Emmaus that Jesus could be, and is, alive again and that God’s work that began in Jesus could go on among us his followers.
A rule of life, like the Way of Love, is to intentionally take time each day to be with God. Your life can be like that of a flower, turning towards the Son and his way of loving others. I believe we have learned new ways to follow in Jesus’ path and I pray that we will continue those ways when we come out on the other side of this crisis.
