Luke 24:13 – 32
I wonder if, like me, you have a busy brain. One which mulls over, thinks through, creates, repeats, replays and wonders. Thoughts crashing through your mind, nineteen to the dozen, every waking moment! Sometimes this can be a source of inspiration and strength, whilst at other times it leads to exhaustion. I’ve found two tools which help me to make sense of the busyness – one being stillness, meditation and resting in God’s presence; the other is the opportunity to download to a listening ear.
For these disciples I wonder what the start of the walk was like. Whether the previous few days of wondering and questioning had led to glimmers of hope, which now, on the road, flowed out of their mouths in questions and seemingly unrelated strands of consciousness.
As has always happened to me, at moments when I have reached the end of myself, Jesus shows up. And like, so often happens to me, it takes a good while longer of consciousness for the penny to drop that it’s Jesus who is really there.
I love, love, love how Jesus takes these travellers by the metaphorical hand and gently walks them through process of turning strands into tapestry. With a technique familiar to modern day coaching, Jesus starts with a question and allows the questions and the stream of consciousness to emerge. Only when their tale is told does Jesus move from coach to mentor, and continue to serve them in the Rabbinical capacity He has inhabited for so many years.
Like water on dry ground, Jesus prepares the soil of their hearts and minds. But what I love the most is what finally makes sense is not words, or woven thoughts. It is practical, familiar action. The door starts to open when their habit of hospitality prompts them to offer Jesus an invitation. The veil is removed from their eyes when Jesus physically shows them the answer. Sometimes the best way to make sense, at the end of thinking and questioning and talking, is to get up and do, to take the next step and offer God an invitation, before watching as God acts, often in physical ways, to bring revelation.
