Seeing With Open Hands
by Marlee Robertson
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Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.
Luke 24:13-17
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During a recent session with my spiritual director, I was talking about life looking different than I had anticipated. Not better or worse, just different. My director asked “where are you seeing God show up for you in this season?” I gave some vague answer. Frankly, my mind and heart were busy feeling sorry for myself, I had little time or energy to look for God. We sat in the quiet for a long time. Then she said, “Would you recognize him if he did?” That statement wasn’t intended to be a punch to the gut, but it kinda felt like one.
When Jesus appeared to the people on the road to Emmaus, they did not recognize him. I wonder what that was about. These were Jesus' friends. They had spent time with him before his death. Was Jesus’ face hidden or covered in some way? Were they not paying attention? Too busy feeling sorry for themselves? Was the Risen Christ so transformed he looked nothing like he had before? Maybe D - all of the above.
I can get stuck in the past. I can get anxious about an uncertain future and want to take matters into my own hands. I’ll ruminate on how “it” used to be and long to get back to “that.” But when I close my hands to grasp on to what was, I miss receiving the new thing God wants to give now.
Maybe that’s what the folks on the road to Emmaus encountered. They had experienced amazing things when they walked with Jesus before his death. And now the risen and transformed Christ was offering them a new way forward, but they couldn’t grasp it because they were clinging to what was.
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I am practicing the act of living open handed. Learning from the past but not setting up camp there. Asking “what do I need to loosen my grasp on in order to take hold of what you want to give me Lord?”
Jesus is doing a new thing. My prayer is that we open our eyes to recognize, our hands to receive, and our hearts to be transformed.
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