Open Minds

Jesus himself stood among the disciples 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. Luke 24:36b-48

Open Minds

After such trauma and terror

we close our minds and hearts

looking for someone to demonize

aching to strike out at something.

We are hesitant to trust once again

when the world is topsy turvy

when there seems to be no way

to regain our sense of balance.

All of life is in constant change

we need some small regular patterns

for us to get a firm purchase 

grounded again to start life over.

We hold our breath for fear of pain

we stop ourselves from loving now

yet the song of the Divine invites us

to come to the table and be fed again.

I