Prodigals on the Way to Emmaus

by Heather Truex, Kaio Community Member

“Make good decisions!”

These words used to echo through my middle school as the vice principal finished up the morning announcements on the PA system. Later, a friend in college repeated them jokingly as we all dispersed after a Friday night hangout on our tame Christian campus. Now these are the words I say to Victor every time he leaves the Ministry Center. Sometimes he heeds them; other times he doesn’t.

Easter and the Lenten season have long passed. I had all these grandiose ideas of what I was going to do during Lent to draw nearer to God: read through The Confessions of St Augustine, spend more time in scripture and prayer, write a couple of new songs, etc.

I didn’t succeed in any of those things.

Lately I’ve been letting laziness take over and influence the decisions I make. Instead of drawing nearer to God, I’ve wandered farther away. This has made me realize that, just like Victor and many of our men here at Emmaus, I have the ability to intentionally make poor choices. At my core, I’m just a prodigal son walking alongside all the other prodigals.

But that’s what Emmaus is. Prodigals walking with prodigals. As we journey this path together, those of us at Emmaus are never the ones in the place of Christ as he meets the disciples on the road. Only Christ is. And just as he kindles a gradual fire in the hearts of our men, so he does in us.

Working at Emmaus is convicting. The more time I spend around the men, the clearer I see my own failures and sin. I may have made some healthier choices in my life than Victor has, but that doesn’t put me above him. Instead, I accompany him through his mess even as I work through mine, with Christ in the middle of it all to meet us where we’re at on this road.