THE ROAD TO EMMAUS

My daughter and I took a stroll in a local park on Saturday morning. We have only walked in this particular setting once or twice before. We sauntered casually along the meandering path. The sun filtered down ever so gently through the immense ancient looking trees. As I gazed about this lovely scene I was reminded of a famous painting called “The Road to Emmaus.” The picture portrays Jesus and two of His disciples walking on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. This depiction was inspired by the passage in Luke 24: 13-31. In this story, Jesus suddenly comes alongside His two friends to join them in their walk. Oddly enough, however, the disciples do not recognize the Master. This event takes place on Easter Sunday after the Lord's Resurrection. Jesus asks the two men what they have been discussing. They said to Him, “Are you the only one who has not heard about all the things that have been happening in Jerusalem the last few days?” Jesus coyly replies, “What things?'

The men proceed to tell Him that Jesus, whom they believed would redeem Israel, had been crucified. They also relayed that some women had gone to His tomb and found it empty. Their hopes that Jesus was their Messiah had been dashed and they were very discouraged. At that point Jesus explained all the scriptures concerning Moses and the prophets who had predicted these events and their significance. In their grief, confusion, and concern with their own feelings of abandonment and disillusion, the two disciples did not even recognize that the one they were talking with was Jesus Himself! It was not until later on that evening, upon breaking bread with the Lord, that His followers eyes were opened and that they actually recognized Him. At that point He disappeared from them.

I wonder how many times, in the midst of our own problems, that we also do not recognize Jesus in our midst? Like the apostles, many times we are not expecting Jesus among us. On those occasions we just do not see Him by our side. Perhaps in our own homes we become irritated with a troublesome child or with a disagreeable spouse. Perhaps we brush off a lonely church member who takes up a little too much of our personal time. Do we fail to see Jesus in others when they are hurting, sick, or even in need of material blessings? These people, like Jesus on the Road to Emmaus, may have divine wisdom and insight for us when we stop to share time and love with them. Let us ask the Lord to open our spiritual eyes and to see the divine appointments He has for us even when they interrupt our own personal agendas. Let's pray that we will see the Lord in others and treat them with love, consideration, and generosity.

In this way we will honor God's words which declare:

“The King will reply,

'I tell you the truth, whatever you did

for one of the least of these brothers of mine,

   you did for me."

 Matthew 25:40

NIV

By Cathy Friberg

He is Our Portion

      

While studying Lamentations, a book in the Old Testament, it really
brings to mind who our portion is.  It was the Lord who brought on the
captivity of the Israelites to the Babylonians when they refused to
obey the Lord's commandments.  All that the Lord had blessed them with
was taken away.  As they grew further away from the Lord and
worshipped other gods and images, His grace finally left and they had
to pay the consequences of suffering, being in bondage and a
seperation from the Lord.

The Lord is our portion.  He commands for us to trust in Him and obey.
 He has given us the ability to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be
lead by Him in the right direction we should go.  When we trust in His
guidance, depend on His word, seek His favor and put Him first we will
have the perfect peace that passes all understanding.  Even if we go
through various trials, when we put our trust and faith in Him we can
have the hope that He will always lead us in the path of righteousness
for His name sake.

It is very easy in our World especially in our country, to seek other
gods, so to speak.  When we are down we can use other means to comfort
us.  But we need to realize that God is our portion, our strength in
our time of need, our encouragment when we are down, our everlasting
force that keeps us moving forward on a fruitful meaningful path.  It
does not matter what the circumstances may look like in our life, how
people may treat us or view us.  What really matters is that He is our
portion and that He can give us the perfect peace that passes all
understanding, the love in our heart that we so disperately desire and
need.

He has put in our hearts a desire to love and serve Him.  We have been
wired to love and worship Him.  We all sense a void in our hearts that
always wants and never gets satisfied.  A need to look up to someone
we can believe in.  When that desire is not the Lord that we are
worshipping and looking up to,  we are dissappointed every time.  For
nothing is forever accept the Lord.  The lives we live and all that we
have in our lives is temporal, but the Word of God, our Lord is
forever.

As we look to the things that are above, our Lord and His everlasting,
power, peace and salvation that we attain through Him we will realize
that is all we need.  He is our portion, the Only Portion that we need
always and forever.  He is our all and all.

May you rest in His perfect peace and love and desire only His Portion
which is all we need in Christ Jesus and may you sense the comfort,
love and understanding of knowing Him is enough.

Serving Him,
KC

Let 2012 be a year filled with "holy days"
 that you can see!!

During the last week I have heard different conversation about people feeling a real let down because Christmas is over.  A feeling that the “Holiday Attitude,” leaves us as the ornaments are removed from the tree, the wrapping paper and ribbons are stored away for another year, and the anticipation and expectations are reviewed, and even evaluated , as we box up “Christmas.”

I feel fortunate to have my faith and church family remind me of what the true meaning of Christmas is, and, with this, I reflect on the importance of  living each day, not just the few weeks during holiday time, looking for reverence in my everyday, ordinary,  journey of life.

God’s love for each of us doesn’t take a holiday.  The gift of God’s love and caring doesn’t come with a limited warranty, or strict return policy.    He is always here for us, and we need to have an open mind and heart; ready to look for, and experience, ordinary things filled with the sacred. Filled with God’s love, which is like a friend,  who is always ready to greet us, invite us in, and embrace us giving comfort and a sense of belonging.

A couple of weeks ago I heard a lecture on writing fiction.  The author talked about the importance of creating a setting which serves to develop our characters in the story.  I thought about how we need to work on our setting in life.  I think we benefit in many ways when we choose to actively look for reverence in everyday experiences and opportunities to reflect on God’s presence.  These experiences serve to help us develop our character; anchoring us and assisting us to keep in touch with our spiritual side.

In Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book, “Simple Abundance,” she reminds us that gratitude is the gateway to experiencing more reverence in our daily lives and that the real life of joy we are meant to be living begins when we restore a sense of reverence to our daily affairs.

Looking for reverence in everyday life is something we must do for ourselves.  I don’t think we can be told to find reverence in something; it has to be experienced within, without someone else dictating what we should find special or meaningful.  I do think that just like becoming more aware of the value of gratitude, finding reverence in everyday occurrences can become more a part of our lives.  We can practice looking at our lives in a different way, through   different lenses, taking the time to reflect and feel God’s presence.

During Advent, I read, for the second year, a book written by Albert Holtz, a Benedictine monk, “From Holidays to Holy Days.”  This little book has been a valuable companion to me during the wonderful season of Advent.  Brother Albert states it beautifully...

“……..as you move through the journey of your life, may you  discover there  the faithful, loving God who keeps being born into
our world all the time,
and  whose unseen presence
turns every day into a holy day.” 

I wish you a Happy New Year filled with the wonderful challenge of looking for reverence in each ordinary day. May the days of this, as yet, pristine year be filled with God-given "holy days" that you can see.

Blessings,
Connie I. Clark