The Gospel event of the Emmaus experience consistently continues to amaze me. Perhaps it is the one event narrated in the Bible that I've found myself reflecting on most recurrently.
This evening it occurred to me that Jesus while joining the two disciples was leading them in the opposite direction. Rather than lead them back to Jerusalem, where the whole action was being unfolded, he walks with them, in the opposite direction. Then the comedy of the fact, the disciples reach Emmaus only to run back to Jerusalem, the place where they started their journey! Back to square one!
One way of looking at it is that God often leads us away from where we are and where we think we ought o be, only to lead us in the opposite direction. Perhaps later in life we get back to where we initially wanted to be, but then we are not anymore the same person who started off. The journey, the new place we've been to, and the whole experience of the while, transforms us and our view of the place we are so convinced we actually ought to be in.
Another way of looking at it is that God joins us in our journey. He does not cause abrupt u-turns in our life, just because he wants to or because that's where we are supposed to be. He basically accompanies us, even if we are in a totally different direction. It is in our daily living that we encounter God. In our everyday choices and decisions. He accompanies us. The decision to change or retain paths is always ours!
This evening it occurred to me that Jesus while joining the two disciples was leading them in the opposite direction. Rather than lead them back to Jerusalem, where the whole action was being unfolded, he walks with them, in the opposite direction. Then the comedy of the fact, the disciples reach Emmaus only to run back to Jerusalem, the place where they started their journey! Back to square one!
One way of looking at it is that God often leads us away from where we are and where we think we ought o be, only to lead us in the opposite direction. Perhaps later in life we get back to where we initially wanted to be, but then we are not anymore the same person who started off. The journey, the new place we've been to, and the whole experience of the while, transforms us and our view of the place we are so convinced we actually ought to be in.
Another way of looking at it is that God joins us in our journey. He does not cause abrupt u-turns in our life, just because he wants to or because that's where we are supposed to be. He basically accompanies us, even if we are in a totally different direction. It is in our daily living that we encounter God. In our everyday choices and decisions. He accompanies us. The decision to change or retain paths is always ours!
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