Her Heart was burning too

"Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, Luke 24. 13 - 35

I cannot read this story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus without envisioning the piercing gaze of this Servant Girl from Velázquez' painting and thinking about the stunning words of Denise Levertov's poem. The servant girl recognized his voice and remembered that she had been seen by him. Before the disciples know who he is, she knows and listens intently waiting for them to recognize the Light that surrounds him...this experience is a resurrection of sorts for her. I wonder how it changed her life? Like Mary Magdalene, she saw the Risen Lord.

May our hearts burn within us during this Easter season especially, as we see the Light of Risen Lord in the faces of others. May we practice resurrection.

Denise Levertov (1923–1997)

The Servant Girl at Emmaus(A Painting by Velázquez)

She listens, listens, holding her breath. Surely that voice is his—the one who had looked at her, once, across the crowd, as no one ever had looked? Had seen her? Had spoken as if to her?

Surely those hands were his,taking the platter of bread from hers just now? Hands he'd laid on the dying and made them well?

Surely that face—?

The man they'd crucified for sedition and blasphemy. The man whose body disappeared from its tomb.The man it was rumored now some women had seen this morning, alive?

Those who had brought this stranger home to their table don't recognize yet with whom they sit.But she in the kitchen, absently touching  the wine jug she's to take in, a young Black servant intently listening,

swings round and sees the light around him and is sure.

Kitchen Maid with Supper at Emmaus, Diego Velazquez, Spain, c.1618