The Missing Charms

In the hours following Christ's quiet escape from the grip of death, He began to fulfill His breathtaking promise to dwell within us and walk among us. He chose the road to Emmaus as a fitting venue to showcase the subtle power by which He intended to move His own from venality to virtue, from deceit to forthrightness, and from timidity to boldness. The men that He engaged on the road had felt the pain of broken relationship. The One in whom they had placed their trust failed to live up to His commitment. He had, after all, orphaned them-or had He? Who was this Stranger who suddenly appeared, reminding them of the very truths meant to sustain them? It was only after patient communion that they recognized Him as the One whom they thought had forsaken them. Just as He had emerged from the wreckage of His former physical accommodation, so He appears amid the broken pieces of troubled relationships. The New Testament proclaims that Christ is before all things. One might understand this assertion to imply that in much the same way a conductor assumes himself before an orchestra, Christ directs the timing, movement, rhythm and intensity of all the lives that would have it so. If a broken or neglected relationship is to be restored, it will be done so on the Emmaus Road. The elusive voice will speak from within one circumstance to the next. One might count it silly fancy or he might take it for what it is: the confident direction of a Divine Conductor. One will know when he has chosen the latter, for his heart will indeed burn within him.