I remember every encounter...each
one a stepping stone leading to his
final resting place in my heart...each
memory highlighted by unfamiliar
feelings like when.. I couldn't believe
my eyes...in the midst of all he was
suffering...all that pain...every
miniscule movement a torture...
every breath brought no relief but
simply a prophetic sign of more to
come...even his eyesight was obscured
half-blinded by blood's steady stream
from its thorny creche - a mocking
symbol of his true identity and still...
with all that...he found me imbedded
in the jeering sometimes simply curious
crowd fascinated by the death spectacle
of the King of the Jews..it was as if he
had searched me out like I was a long
lost sheep hiding amongst a pack of
howling wolves...it brought to mind the
first time our eyes met months before...i
t was in another crowd but this time a
friendly one...everyone was hungry not
only for food to fill our stomachs but for
his words which mysteriously fed our
empty hearts way out in the empty
countryside...he was teaching things
we never heard before when suddenly
he stropped to break for food though
there were merely scraps which somehow
he miraculously multiplied and had
baskets and baskets left over...amazed
yet confused I got up to leave but his
gaze moved me to stay to find some
kind of answer to even one of the
questions swirling in my mesmerized
mind....who is this man? how can he
do that? his words are touching places
in my heart that I didn't know existed...
everyone had an opinion -some said this..
others that...I only knew I had to keep
searching for something more that I didn't
have right now.....then there was another
crowd this time near Passover...but this
one was cheering him as he rode a colt
into Jerusalem...waving palms thinking
he was the Messiah even though he didn't
claim to be a warrior king...again the gaze..
very strange...like he had expected that
I would be there - a familiar face even
though as yet we had never spoken to one
another...now...this...horrific spectacle...
not what I ever expected for such a gentle
miraculous person...totally innocent of
their bogus charges and now planted
between murderers and yet... even in all
his pain he found me...again that haunting
gaze .but this time as I took steps toward
him he cried out as he Finished his
Sacrificial Offering amidst his Mother's
mournful goodbye as thunder rolled and
lightning cracked and darkness covered
the mount and apparently the Temple's
Curtain was Completely Torn as death
hushed the staring crowd left wondering
if there could possibly be any more drama
to what they just witnessed.....now...days
later... on the road to Emmaus...unrecognized..
he turned up as a fascinating stranger totally
transforming Sacred Texts into pearls of \
Revelation about the Resurrected Christ
till at fireside he gazed at me again and
with a smile offered me the broken bread
with his nail-scared hand and in a Final
Encounter bade me to join him in that
Sacred Feast...now - even though he
vanished -I know He is Alive ..He un-
veiled the eyes of my heart...then I knew
who He was and who I am in Him...He
is my Lord and Savior and I am His forever...
reborn by his Spirit...on mission to witness
for His Kingdom to a world broken by sin....
hungry for healing and the Bread of Life...
so...what about you? are you hungry for More?...
Ask...Seek...Knock...and it shall be yours...
Reflection / Discussion:
-Ask Jesus to show you times in the past when
He has sought you out. What was happening then?
What was your response?
-Do you want More in your life?
-By reading this poem, is He seeking you now? Why / not?
-Have you asked Him to be your personal Lord / Savior?
-If not...what is holding you back?
- Are you asking...seeking...knocking...for More?
-What does it mean to "be His Forever"?
-What does it mean to be "reborn by His Spirit'?
-Do you have a "mission in life"?
-Are you 'hungry for healing'?
-What is the "Bread of Life"?
-He is smiling at you now, how's that make you feel?
.that same gaze
only this time it was followed
with a smile...and it was then
I know I was reborn...never
more to forget that gaze even
when it would be my turn
on that cross because of him...
