When in doubt

After Luke 24: 36-43 

When he appears

among them, without

sign or warning,

not there one moment

and there the next,

and says peace,

they feel anything but.

Peace? Are you serious?

You died, and here

you are. Peace? How

about fear, and shock?

No, he offers peace:

set aside the questions

in your hearts, and 

consider: does a ghost

have flesh and bone?

Can a ghost let you

see and feel the wounds

in his hands and feet?

And by the way, is

there anything to eat?

 

When in doubt, touch,

and eat fish.

 

Photograph by Jonathan Borba via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Suddenly

After Luke 24:36-43 

Disconcerting, yes,

to see what appears

to be a spirit

suddenly

standing there, 

the spirit of the man

recently deceased,

the man whose life

and death you were

actually discussing

at the very moment,

as if words summoned

a spirit.

Startling, yes,

frightening, no question.

They’d been hearing

the reports of life

after death, but it’s

easy to doubt what

you yourself haven’t

seen. And then,

suddenly, there he is,

smiling, speaking

words of calm. And

they see another

reality: their doubt

evaporating,

suddenly.

 

Photograph by Luke Richardson via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Hands and feet

After Luke 24:36-43

They see, they touch,

they doubt.

He sees the doubt.

Why, he says, why

this doubt. See

my hands. See

my feet.

(Why point them

To his hands and feet?”

(His hands and feet

bear the marks, 

the testimony.)

Touch me, and see,

They see, they touch,

they doubt and disbelieve

still,

even as the joy

begins to bubble up,

even as the marvel

begins to seize them,

unbidden.

And to prove his point,

he asks the normal.

Anything to eat?

Some fish?

The world is turning

upside down,

right before them,

right inside their hearts.

Photograph by Cristian Palmer via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Bam! Shazam! Pow!

After Luke 24:36-43

They’re talking about

these events, this man,

wondering if this could be

true: that he was alive.

Bam! Shazam! Pow!

He’s there, among them,

and says, prosaically,

peace be with you.

Peace? Are you kidding?

Shock, fear, turmoil, yes;

like seeing a specter,

a ghost, yes. But peace?

They know he died;

they know he died

because they saw it,

witnessed it, saw 

the last gasps, felt

the earthquake, saw

the sky split open.

But they touch him,

and he’s real.

Photograph by Dan Meyers via Unsplash. Used with permission.