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The Still Point

A Time of Meditation and Reflection

Sunday of the Resurrection: Easter Day

(Evening Service)

 ... At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,There would be no dance, and there is only the dance...

T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton

            Peace on each one who comes in need;

            Peace on each one who comes in joy. 

            Peace on each one who offers prayers;

            Peace on each one who offers song. 

            Peace of the Maker, Peace of the Son,

            Peace of the Spirit, the Triune One.

 

Alleluia! Christ is Risen. The Lord is Risen indeed. Alleluia!  

Opening Prayer

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel                                                                                                 Luke 24:13-49

Now on that same day, the first day of the week, two of the disciples 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. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." 

Poem: “Kitchen Maid with Supper at Emmaus; The Mulata*”                            by Natasha Trethewey (b. 1966)  

after the painting by Diego Velàzquez, ca. 1619She is the vessels on the table before her:the copper pot tipped toward us, the white pitcherclutched in her hand, the black one edged in redand upside down. Bent over, she is the mortarand the pestle at rest in the mortar—still angledin its posture of use. She is the stack of bowlsand the bulb of garlic beside it, the basket hungby a nail on the wall and the white cloth bundledin it, the rag in the foreground recalling her hand.She's the stain on the wall the size of her shadow—the color of blood, the shape of a thumb. She is echoof Jesus at table, framed in the scene behind her:his white corona, her white cap. Listening, she leansinto what she knows. Light falls on half her face.

Meditation

The gospel reading for the evening of Easter Sunday tells of two disciples walking to Emmaus. Weary and overcome by grief and distracted by their anxieties, they fail to recognize the stranger they encounter on the road. Only later, when he breaks bread with them in the inn, do the two recognize the stranger as Jesus.Artists have long been inspired by this very human and intimate story, and have depicted various aspects of it in the visual arts. One of the most remarkable of these paintings is by Diego Velasquez (see below). His representation does not show any of the main characters in the story, but rather focuses on a kitchen maid who is serving supper to Jesus and the disciples.The poem by Natasha Trethewey picks up on aspects of the painting to further animate the  character of the kitchen maid in our mind's eye. By comparing her to various physical objects in the painting - the vessels, the pitcher, the mortar and pestle, the garlic bulb - we may consider aspects of the maid's story and her background.*Perhaps most striking is the image of the maid as a reflection of Jesus: "She is echo of Jesus at table, framed in the scene behind her: his white corona, her white cap."And in the conclusion of the poem, light (the light of resurrection?) falls on her face.

Questions for Reflection

What images, words and phrases in the Emmaus story resonate with you the most? Are there new insights for you?In the poem, what do you make of the words, "Listening, she leans into what she knows."How can we tune our ears and eyes to recognize Jesus in the strangers we encounter?* Trethewey offers an alternate title of “The Mulata” for her poem. Referring to a woman of mixed race, the term has been considered variously as insulting or as a term of pride, depending on its context. The poet herself was born from a mixed marriage in Mississippi in 1966, a year before the Supreme Court struck down anti-miscegenation laws.

Prayers

We bring before God someone whom we have met or remembered todayWe bring to God someone who is hurting tonight and needs our prayerWe bring to God a troubled situation in our worldWe bring to God, silently, someone whom we find hard to forgive or trustWe bring ourselves to God that we might grow in generosity of spirit, clarity of mind, and warmth of affectionWe offer our thanks to God for the blessings in our livesWe name before God those who have died.Gracious God, you hear all our prayers: those we speak aloud, those we hold in our hearts, and those prayers for which we have no words. Hear the prayers of your people, and grant them as may be best for us, for the sake of your holy name. Amen.Accept our thanks for all you have done, O God. Our hands were empty, and you filled them.May Christ’s holy, healing, enabling Spirit be with us every step of the way, and be our guide as our road changes and turns, and the blessing of God our Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life be among us now and remain with us forever. Amen. Reflections this month offered by: Frank Nowell