SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

Music inspires me. I love to listen to Spirit FM as I drive around, enjoying all the praise and worship and contemporary Christian music on the radio. I have learned to appreciate all music that glorifies Jesus Christ, no matter the style or the period of its composition, One recent song in particular has  blessed me: " City on Our Knees" done by Toby Mac. This song tells of a time at night  in which hope, peace, and love comes to bring people together in love. It is a joining of the sinners and the saints, stepping across the lines that divide, to be joined together in the Beloved Community, " a city with One King, a city on our knees."  This song reminds me of what I consider the holiest part of the Walk to Emmaus, the candlelight ceremony, in which we are all gathered in the love of Christ, blessed to be a blessing, becoming a city of One King, a city on our knees. This is what Emmaus is about, bringing people together in the love of Christ, the love of God and neighbor, to shine a light of grace, to carry our candles and go light our world.

            This is my nineteenth year as an Emmaus pilgrim ( once a pilgrim, always a pilgrim!). We are all on a journey with Jesus. The journey is our Home as we seek to bring blessings to all around us on our way Home. As I look back over my journey, I rejoice over the Walks, flights, Epiphanies, and Kairoses on which I journeyed, the many wonderful friends I have made on the way, and the growth in the Spirit this journey has given me. I look forward to the four Walks we have this year, the gatherings, the fourth day talks, the communion service, the worship, and the friendships that will happen. As the song says, "It's all love tonight, as we step across the line, to a city with One King, a city on our knees."

            May God bless you "out of your socks" and may you be surprised by His JOY!

            Shalom yall,

            Paul Beighley