He made himself known in the breaking of the bread
A Reflection on Luke 24:13-35
William Loader
When the giant rock split,
there at its heart was a miracle:
a tiny creature millions of years old
saw the light that once shone on its soft skin,
the mysterious treasure of an ancient fossil.
The freshly baked loaf crackled and split,
its warm soft whiteness filling the room
with appetite and fingers reaching out
to pull strips of warm yeast laden bread,
break off crisp and crunchy crusts
or cut fresh slices for melting butter.
The broken heart offers no such delights:
lives turn grey with suffering,
eyes sullen with pain,
hope withdrawn into deep sockets,
shrunken bodies seeking dissolution
and hope far, far away.
Yet into our darkness shines a new light:
a life poured out many times
before its final brokenness,
a giving much more generous than soldiers could take;
eyes which loved with divine love,
compassion that crossed the boundaries.
We take his life in our hands,
we break and wonder.
The miracle of ancient life becomes contemporary,
rising from the stone.
The brokenness offers risen life,
crosses our forbidden boundaries,
and takes our life in his hands.
And our hearts burn within us on the way
as we see millions of years into the heart of God.