Beth was startled to learn...
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Beth was startled to learn that Margaret was 29 before she experienced the death of anyone she knew personally. That seemed so unusual. Beth had been only five when her best friend died of leukemia, 11 when her grandfather passed on, 13 when her brother died. By the time she was 29, Beth had coped with death and grief many times. Both she and Margaret were approaching 50 now. As they'd entered the funeral home, Beth had commented on how often she had done this before -- and that it never seemed to get any easier. That's when Margaret had mentioned her relative lack of experience with funerals. As they waited for the service to begin, Beth was conscious of all-too-familiar sights, sounds, and smells. She found herself recalling the months after her best friend's sudden death nearly seven years ago. There had been times when she actually thought for a moment she had seen him. Once, in the grocery store, she had almost run down the aisle, certain that the man at the far end was her friend -- until he turned around. Beth knew such experiences were not uncommon. She wondered if anything similar had ever happened to Margaret. Her own experiences were why Beth always found the Emmaus story so poignant. Jesus was actually there with a few of the disciples, walking along the road -- and they did not recognize him, not until they were eating together, when he broke the bread. "And their eyes were opened and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight" (Luke 24:31). Beth never heard or read that verse without being struck by its intensity. The disciples must have felt incredible joy when they realized this stranger was their beloved friend. This joy must have intensified their despair when they almost immediately lost him again. Not that he was lost completely. He remained with them in spirit. And, of course, there had to be incredible joy and awe connected with knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus really had been resurrected. But Beth had lost too many friends herself not to also hear the tremendous pain enveloped in the words, "and he vanished out of their sight." -- Fannin
