A lot of our churches
and worship places tend to have unhelpful furniture arrangements.
Seats and pews marshalled in rows, facing rigidly forward,
worshippers facing one way, seated or standing shoulder to
shoulder. It’s no harm to realise that the two disciples
journeying to Emmaus didn’t recognise Jesus on the road.
It was only when they sat face to face that they made the
connection. When their focus was on the road ahead, they were
blinded.
We live in a world that is constantly moving, focused on the
next event rather than taking time to truly be together with
another human being. We are constantly on the run, commuting,
filling our free time with activities, doing taxi runs with
the children, eating on the run as well. We don’t stop
and talk, let alone stop and eat. And all the while people
are hungry for intimacy and fellowship. But few experience
it since we are living our lives without contact and face-to-face
communication. Great things can happen when people meet face
to face. After all ‘company’ is a word that literally
means ‘with bread’.
Emmaus is not some holy place seven miles from Jerusalem -
Emmaus is anyplace, anywhere where we stop and meet in our
families, our workplaces, with each other. In moments like
these we can experience the assuring and loving presence of
God.
