Hidden

Steve and J went to dinner on Friday at a Chinese restaurant. Steve's fortune:

What's hidden in an empty box?
Steve said, "I don't get a fortune. I get a stinkin' riddle!

I was walking to the car a few weeks ago after work. I had an unexpected meeting with my boss downtown, which means that I had to carry extra books and such. I had my own bag which included books and my laptop computer, a work bag with notebooks for the meeting, my purse, which is not a whimpy, tiny purse -- it's large and heavy, and a cooler, packed with eggs, cheese and ice (Rather than leave you guessing, I'll explain that at the end). All heavy, and more than I normally carry. Our parking lot used to be a ballfield, and I often park far away from the building, so I headed out -- two briefcases, purse and cooler. I got all the way to the end of the parking lot -- no car. Then I remembered. I had actually gotten a CLOSE spot that day, right next to the door. I had pretty much walked right by my car already. Not only had I walked way too far from the building, but now I had to walk back. I was not happy.

We miss things. There are, however, moments of revelation in life -- moments when what had been previously hidden or ignored is brought to light. These are "Ah Hah!" moments, and they are great. I had a few of those today at our Emmaus walk team meeting, and I thought for the blog entry, I would just randomly list them.

• The name of the Priorities talk has been officially changed in the manual to Priority -- singular. For some reason, this was an "ah hah" moment for me. Priority -- singular.
• One of the ALD did a devotion today based on Max Lucado's book "God Thinks You're Wonderful." As she read the book, I wrote down the line, "You have captured the heart of God."
• Bruce Heiner said today, "We ritualize that which is important to us." That's true, but I had never thought of it before.
• One of the team members was talking at a table during a break. She said that her husband tells her that she is beautiful, but she knows she is not. Another one, who had recently lost her husband, agreed with her. I thought for a moment, and said, "They are so close to us that they see beyond the outside to what is on the inside, and that IS beautiful." The first woman said, "I believe that is true for everyone else, but not for me." I had no answer for her, but a fourth team member said, "What makes you so special that what is true for everyone else is not true for you?" It was a very interesting conversation.
• At the beginning of the day, someone asked the recent (in the past year or so) widow how she was doing. She said, "As well as can be expected." She paused. "But I really don't know what is expected." Also interesting to me.

In the consecration service which followed the team meeting, Bruce Heiner did a meditation about the Walk to Emmaus passage in Luke (24:13-35). If you remember in the passage, Jesus walks with them toward Emmaus, but they do not recognize him until he breaks the bread. Bruce said that the point of the story isn't the revelation of the identity of the one who was traveling with them, it is their response (33-35):

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

They told people about the about what they had experienced. That is our calling -- to share the Good News about God. That's the point of Emmaus.

Why eggs and cheese? A few weeks ago, my weekend schedule included preparing cheese grits as a gift for the UMM breakfast at our church. In order to make everything easier for myself, I stopped by the store at lunch and picked up supplies rather than waiting until later in the evening. These food supplies included eggs and grits, which I took in from the car and stored in our lounge refrigerator for the afternoon. Because of the unexpected meeting, I had to figure out a way to keep them cool in the car while I met with my boss on the way home. Hence the cooler and ice.