On The Way

“Ehh ewww, ehh ewww, ehh ewww,” I breathed in and out exhaustedly. Despite years of a cardiovascular foundation playing soccer, on this first run with college distance men from the track team I found myself out of breath. “Running: Our sport is your sport’s punishment” read the shirt of the guy ahead of me. After only a couple of miles at “easy pace” I could barely read those words as they faded into the horizon ahead. When they did I was lost. Confused by the woods and a maze of similar looking trails on the 13,000 acre campus I did not know where to go.

Eventually I found my way back to the track with a few minutes of daylight to spare. Over the course of months I got better at running. I did not gasp as much. My legs became stronger. Finally, by the fall when the leaves turned fiery colors and the air turned crisp, I found myself acclimated to the mileage and the routes. And yet, I might have been more lost than before even with good friends and teammates by my side.

My junior year of college turned out to be an age of being lost, or perhaps better put, not knowing where to go. The relationship I had been in for over a year with my girlfriend exploded right in my face, which precipitated a series of life-altering questions about life and love and loss—including whether God even existed. I recall the runs that autumn serving as stress-relievers, as well as moments when with my best friends I could ask the most serious questions that I dared not wonder in the presence of professors, high school buddies, or family. As we blazed the paths to the Forestry Cabin, King’s Farm, or Dotson Point I never realized that I wasn’t only on Sewanee paths, but also on the way to Emmaus.

Cleopas and his friend were lost, and in not such a different way than I was lost. Sure, they knew they were headed to Emmaus and ultimately I knew the routes I ran, but make no mistake none of us knew where we were going. With all our doubts blinding our vision we headed down paths that we hoped would lead back to normalcy: fishing nets or geology assignments, tax offices or computer labs, and the day-in, day-out comfort of routine. Those men and I had a lot in common for we had in the midst of trying times turned back to go towards everyday life, while we ignored the events that had changed life forever.

On that same day, that is Easter Day, Cleopas and his friend recounted everything that had happened. And yet, even though they went back through all the events of what we call Holy Week they had long since decided that their savior had lost. Thus, they walked on the way that led away from what had happened to Jesus and towards a place called Emmaus. Scholars still cannot agree on where Emmaus is, it appears nowhere else in Scripture and was not even a blip on the ancient map, so honestly they were headed on the road to nowhere! And, as they went they looked back and missed all the clues that pointed to the Way. We may very well do the same thing as they did and as I did way back when.

Eventually a third person joined the walk to Emmaus. His question, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” stopped them in their tracks. We can like Cleopas and the other disciple buzz along on our normal routes, like runners in the woods of life. Rarely, if ever, do we have reason to pause. Rarely, if ever, do we stop such that we feel the sting of life and love and loss. The question caused the men to stand still and feel their deep sadness. They were upset I think because they had hoped, but were let down. Even when the women from their group told them about the empty tomb that sorrow clogged the ears of their hearts. And so, they walked back towards nowhere, hoping now to forget all that had happened.

Often this is where we are walking even after Easter. It was where I felt like I was going when I felt the sting of life and love and loss. Christ is risen Alleluia! but there are still bills, wars, illness, conflict, poverty, famine, addiction, and everything else that causes us to toss and turn at night. As we walk we may be met by a stranger that causes us to stop for a moment, but even when someone professes the Truth of God’s saving love, even when our hearts burn in our chests, we may keep walking that road to nowhere, like Cleopas and his friend, for they did not recognize the stranger with them even during profound Scriptural study. And then, the stranger looked as though he might leave them. Cleopas and the other invited their co-journer to join them for a meal, a bit of southern hospitality shown way back in ancient Israel. What happens when we come together as strangers, neighbors, and friends to share a meal?

“When he was at table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight” (Luke 24:30-31).

As we head on the pathways away from Easter we may find ourselves lulled back into a false way of living, namely that life is supposed to be normal, like we are to just keep on keeping on. Jesus though meets us in the middle of our regular lives on the way to wherever it is we think we are going. As we begin to walk in the wake of the Resurrection we will meet strangers. When we invite them in to dwell with us at table we may very well be shocked to discover that together we see the Risen Christ. At this Table, God’s Table, we meet the Risen Lord, we bump elbows with Christ, we eat a meal with Christ, and we are fed by Christ. As much as we may feel lost running down the paths of this life, Christ comes to find us to bring us back together, and to walk with us on the paths that lead to new life.

There is no returning to normal life. When things feel at their worst we may want to rush back to a routine, and comfort, and security. Even when we think that our Savior has lost, we may be surprised as Christ shows up right next to us. As we break bread together may we see the Risen Lord among us, between us, and within us. Allow the light of the Resurrection to shine and to lead us into a transformed lives where we re-member the Body of the Risen Christ and run out to tell of this Good News!