The Dusty Road To Prayer
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Consider all the things that are preoccupying your attention. What might it look like to turn your worries into prayers?
All day long a little burro labors, sometimes
with heavy loads on her back and sometimes just with worries
about things that bother only
burros.
And worries, as we know, can be more exhausting
than physical labor.
Once in a while a kind monk comes
to her stable and brings
a pear, but more
than that,
he looks into the burro’s eyes and touches her ears
and for a few seconds the burro is free
and even seems to laugh,
because love does
that.
Love frees.
- Meister Eckhart
Luke 24:13-16
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
Food for Thought
This is for those of us who struggle to believe in the good and are really good at worrying about the worst. Personally, I am quite adept at worrying. I will stay up half the night disaster-planning for “just in case” scenarios.
Maybe we worry because uncertainty feels unbearable and worrying tricks us into thinking we can anticipate and prepare for the terrible unexpected. Maybe we worry because we know what it feels like to have the rug ripped out from under us by life. “You fooled me once, world! Never again!,” we tell ourselves as we tense our muscles and brace for more bad news.
Growing up, I used to go on long runs with my neighbor, Debby. I remember a time when I felt particularly troubled. I added another lap around the neighborhood so we could keep running and I could keep talking about all the things that might go wrong in my future.
Debby kept pace as she listened. After a while, she told me, “Keith, if you know how to worry, you know how to pray.”
On those runs, in conversation with Debby, I learned how to turn my worry into prayer. Not that it is easy. It is not! But it is that simple.
Luke 24 tells us a story of several women who, after encountering an empty tomb, feverishly proclaim the good news that Jesus is risen! But the other disciples cannot believe it. Their disappointment is too painful. Their grief is too intense. They feel disoriented and lost in worry. The world has shown itself to be a cruel place. The women’s good news is too good to be true.
Some of those disciples leave the city and walk the seven-mile dusty road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. As they walk, Jesus appears and joins them. But they do not recognize him. For seven miles, as he walks with them, he asks them about their journey, and they share the worries and concerns of their hearts.
Jesus listens patiently. Then he speaks. He draws their attention to the prophets (their spiritual ancestors and teachers), and he reframes their fears, heartaches, and worries in light of their spiritual lineage. Perhaps Jesus is teaching them, among other things, to turn their worries into prayers.
When they arrive at Emmaus, the disciples invite Jesus to stay and eat. Luke 24:30 tells us, “As they sat down to eat, Jesus took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized he was Jesus! And then he disappeared from their sight.”
Those disciples are so swept up in their own pain and worries that they miss how Jesus had been walking that seven-mile dusty road with them. Dumbfounded, they ask each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us?” How did we miss the good news?
Maybe we are those disciples, walking a long dusty road of life, disillusioned by the cruelty of the world. Sometimes, a wild woman preaches some good news—news that all is not lost, news that hope is on the horizon, news that death has not overcome life and that love wins out in the end. But in the face of all we have endured, good news like that is hard to hear and harder to believe.
I wonder if one day, at the edges of our journey on this long dusty road, we too will wake up in a jolt of recognition and realize that Jesus had been walking with us all the while that we grieved, worried, and despaired.
Easter is not a denial of suffering, but a practice of turning all our fears, heartaches, losses, and worries into faithful prayer and belief. Easter is the practice of foolish hope, the practice of proclaiming good news in a world that seems otherwise.
We know what kind of life unfolds when we worry and believe a story about the world’s cruelty. The question is what kind of life awaits us when we risk believing in something outrageous, something crazy, something good? Maybe we would join the women, wildly insisting that pain is not forever, death is not final, and evil will not win. Indeed - life, love, God, and we, are all good after all.
“The Dusty Road to Prayer" Journaling Page provides seven daily thoughts of reflection and journaling prompts that tie back into this week’s story! You can print it, forward it to a friend, use it as inspiration for your own journaling practice (or group conversations), or maybe just use it as food for thought in your own quiet time!
Take a moment to notice the life springing up all around you in this season. Draw, color, or paint a picture of what you see. If a worry starts to creep in as you work, add something in your picture to represent that worry, and then let it go.
Blessing
May the sweet smells and brilliant colors of spring remind you that death has not overcome life. May you remember the risen Christ is walking with you, inviting you to recognize the flashes of good news, love, and life all around you.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Take inventory of your worries. Write them down or discuss them with a friend. What patterns do you notice?
Choose one of the worries on your list. Write it on a piece of paper as an act of prayer. Then, pay attention to the way you might find or feel God journeying alongside you with that worry.
Share some good news you’ve heard today! Dare to look for the good news around you, and proclaim it when it flashes up.
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Ask your kids what they worry about. Consider being vulnerable and share some of your own worries. This can help normalize your child’s feelings and make them feel less alone.
Discuss the difference between worrying and praying, and then spend some time praying as a family.
Ask your kids "What is the best news you've ever heard?" Take joy when they tell you about good news they recognize in unexpected places.
Meet Our Welcoming Voice!
Rev. Keith A. Menhinick is a pastoral theologian, Baptist minister, trauma chaplain, and Ph.D. Candidate in Religion at Emory University. He enjoys deep conversations and the active life - he’s most often found hiking, reading in the park, or hosting a fire pit hangout.
To hear more from Rev. Keith throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!
If you have a story that you would like to be included as a Reader's Write feature, we would love for you to send it our way! You can email us directly at thewelcometableco@gmail.com.
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