My Emmaus Experience

I am missing our house in Filinvest. Many of our friends have commented that house had a distinct feel of peace and quiet, with a feeling of deep abiding joy about it. Some friends who are psychic have even said there were spirits dwelling in our house. It is true. I feel exactly that way about that house. It could be that the ambiance in our house could also be all our ‘left-over’ thoughts, our vibes, our aura and those of all the people who have come to visit or stay with us in that house. There is definitely a presence in that place that is truly palpable.

I believe in the physical resurrection of the body. Scientifically, it is very difficult to explain and understand the phenomenon. But there are more things in heaven and on earth than are observable and explainable by science and technology. Many people believe in auras, an invisible bubble of energy that surrounds every person. The aura reflects what a person deeply is. And where he moves around, he leaves traces of that aura. Many people believe in sympathetic vibrations, how my feelings can resonate with what your are feeling. We diffuse these waves of resonance into our immediate surroundings. Even in spiritual lore, many people believe in halos, that glow of goodness and holiness surrounding good and holy persons. There is a reality in our lives than is greater than the limits imposed by our physical bodies.

I have always loved the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Dejected, depressed and downcast, they were fleeing Jerusalem after the tragic ending of their misadventure with the leader they thought was the Messiah. Then they encountered the Risen Lord. It was a definite presence that they met and felt. And he was for real. When they recognized him, he vanished from their sight but remained forever in their hearts, burning with the grace of his Presence.

I too have encountered the Risen Lord. I remind myself during this Easter season of the times I have felt and seen the Risen Lord’s Presence, how he has set my heart burning. there are many times I forget the reality of this Presence in my life, sometimes refusing to even acknowledge it. But I cannot deny the events and happenings in my life when I have encountered the Risen Lord in my own Emmaus – not once but time and again.

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?’
Luke 24:13-32