This week I was again struck by the writing of pastor and theologian Frederick Buechner-- especially since we are in the Easter season, and we are hearing the stories of the risen Christ appearing in various places. What does that mean for us now? If we aren’t going to encounter Jesus in bodily form, where do we find him? I love how Buechner reminds us that Jesus shows up in the everyday places, in the ordinary places, in the midst of our lives with their specificity and mess and beauty. May you encounter Jesus in this season, as well— whether it be on the road or in the kitchen or at the table. Alleluia!
"JESUS IS APT TO COME, into the very midst of life at its most real and inescapable. Not in a blaze of unearthly light, not in the midst of a sermon, not in the throes of some kind of religious daydream, but... at supper time, or walking along a road. This is the element that all the stories about Christ's return to life have in common: Mary waiting at the empty tomb and suddenly turning around to see somebody standing there—someone she thought at first was the gardener; all the disciples except Thomas hiding out in a locked house, and then his coming and standing in the midst; and later, when Thomas was there, his coming again and standing in the midst; Peter taking his boat back after a night at sea, and there on the shore, near a little fire of coals, a familiar figure asking, "Children, have you any fish?"; the two men at Emmaus who knew him in the breaking of the bread. He never approached from on high, but always in the midst, in the midst of people, in the midst of real life and the questions that real life asks.”
