No wonder hearts began to burn,
smarting first, then chastened, finally chaste
as lamp in hand this stranger led us
down through Scripture to the very gate
of Emmaus.
Then all at once, to gain the point
as if by loss, farewell! and into the dusk
he started away—silently coaxing us
to coax him not to part. Prevail we did,
of course, unknowing that the love for him
that we expressed was really his for us,
direction taught by gracious indirection. Is
every stranger sent to heal our own estrangement?
You know the rest. But even tasks at hand—
fetching victuals, readying chamber—
even these were hallowed in the light
that merged an hour, a day—indeed, a lifetime—
in the moment when he blessed the bread.
