The Gazes

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...