Thursday, April 24, 2025

Poem: From “Fear Makes Us Strangers” by Macrina Wiederkehr

 And then, the unbelievable happened, 

as startling as the moment 

when he washed our feet.

He took the bread and blessed it.

He broke it and handed it to us.

We recognized him then, 

a stranger no longer,                      

but he vanished from our sight.

That was the moment of our understanding.

It was clear to us then 

why our fear started crumbling 

and why our love was returning.

Almost anything can happen at a table.

Anything can happen when you share a meal. 

 

 

Listening to this amazing story,

I nodded in agreement.

Yes, I know,

It happens at tables the world over.

We sit down as strangers, 

strangers in our own household.

Yet when we eat together 

the possibility remains.

Some day we will leave as friends.

We will drop our masks of fear 

and recognize each other 

for the first time.

How can we hand bread to one another 

and remain the same?

 

We’ve all been to our crosses.

We’ve had our burials.

We’ve been to the empty tomb.

Always, it is our fear that scatters us 

turning us into strangers.

Some day we will understand 

that the stranger sitting next to us 

could be our salvation.

 

Meanwhile we keep clutching our fear 

to our breasts like a cherished child.

Smothered beneath all that fear 

love waits.

Some day when our hands reach for the bread 

our hearts will touch.

And then we will know our foolishness.

We will recognize each other at last.

Our fears will flee away.

We will be scattered strangers no longer.

 

Anything can happen 

when you share a meal!

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