Theo of Golden

by Allen Levi

Theo’s eyes filled with tears again — weariness? Hope? Forgiveness?

It would be a healing that would never, at least in this life, be total or final.

Unmet expectations have a clever way of showing up at every stage of life.

Theo had heard that poisonous snakes thrived in such places and wondered if he might be in the neighborhood of one.

“Ellen, the red-winged blackbird is very special to me.” His mind returned briefly to the long-ago moment of passing splendor, when the murmuration of starlings and redwings over the River Marne — like fifty thousand feathered treble hooks — ascended, pivoted, and pirouetted until his soul had been pierced with the beauty of their intricate dance.

know what they say about blue jays? They say blue jays go to hell on Friday. Even

that of other flowers in the genus rhododendron, was toxic and unsuitable for honey. So toxic, in fact, that, once upon a time, receipt of a black vase filled with azaleas was to receive a well-known death threat.

They were so captivated that, when they finally reached their destination and should have been saying farewell, they asked Him to stay with them longer, which He did. And at some point, those two pilgrims realized that their mysterious walking partner was no ordinary man. He could tell them the story because He wrote the story. “Because He was the story. “We are told that ‘their eyes were opened.’ “And this is what the pair subsequently recalled when they spoke of their seven-mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. “‘Our hearts burned within us.’ Their hearts burned within them.” Father Lundy allowed the phrase to linger in silence for a few seconds before he resumed. “We all walk roads of various descriptions in life. The long and winding road. The road to ruin. Easy Street. The road less traveled. “Along the way, there are questions, there is news, there are concerns and fears and uncertainties that furrow our brows, trouble our souls, and break our hearts. Death terrifies many of us. “But God, in His sublime goodness, has always sent others, mysterious others, to walk with us — prophets, preachers, friends, teachers, artists, storytellers, wives and husbands, children, songbirds

love and heaven and forgiveness are the most real things that we can know in this world?

“Theo could have come to us with great fanfare. He could have flaunted his importance and impressed us with his great wealth and long list of accomplishments. Instead, he came with anonymous handwritten letters and no last name. Instead, he came, as did His Lord, not to be served but to serve. “And if you wonder why,