In these days following Easter, our scriptures for Sunday worship tell the stories of Jesus appearances to the disciples after the resurrection. In every story the disciples fail to recognize him immediately. They walk along the road with him. They are on the beach with him. They think he is a stranger. They think he is a guest. The disciples themselves are living in a state of grief and fear. They are not thinking or seeing clearly. They go into their homes, close the doors, turn the keys, lock themselves in and the world out.

And then in each of the stories, Jesus says he is hungry and he is offered food……bread, fish, wine. As soon as he blesses the bread and begins to share a meal with the disciples, they recognize him for who he is. They are surprised, thrilled, and filled with joy. Their friend is among them again! In almost all the stories, he says the same thing:"Peace be with you."

I find these scriptures fascinating not only for what they say about Jesus but what they also say about us. So often when we are held in the grips of fear we can't see what is right in front of us. Those who are living with grief know this….the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of a dream, the loss of a relationship….make it difficult to see gifts that are in our very midst. We find it nearly impossible to recognize the presence of the Holy who walks with us even in the darkest of times.

And then something happens. Someone offers us a bit of bread, a cup of coffee, a cookie or maybe a kind word, a smile or just the gentle silence of two people sitting together, sharing breath and space. We look across the table and the key we'd held so tightly loosens a little in our grip. The door opens a crack and we can perhaps see a light we hadn't noticed before.

In the gospel of John, the writer ends one of the appearance stories with the line: "Now Jesus appeared to the disciples many times that are not written in this book." It is one of my favorite small lines of in these scriptures. It seems to say the story continued, the story continues, and it is up to us be awake and aware of these and then to make the story our own. It seems to remind us that the appearance of the Holy is around us all the time and often we miss it.

Perhaps our work today is to offer the simplest of gifts….bread, water,our prayers…..to those we meet. If they have closed the doors of their hearts, or are walking in fear or living with grief, we just might be the presence of Christ to them offering them a bit of new life.

And isn't that what we are called to do?

"Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As God has sent me, I am sending you." John 20:21