from I’d Know You Anywhere” by Nancy Tillman
If one day we’re walking and talking, just us, and you looked different,
“I might be surprised, but just for a while. I’d know it was you by your magical smile.”
Even if you had been away for a long time and didn’t look at all like yourself, “I’d say,
‘My, my . . . that is quite a disguise!’ But I’d know it was you by the gleam in your eyes.”
“There are things about you quite unlike any other . . .
Things always known by your father or mother.
So, if you decide to be different one day, no worries . . . I’d know you anyway.”
“Yes, without question I’d know it was you.” “I know you by heart.”
Because, child of God, “I’d know you anywhere.”
Responsive Reading for Sunday, October 8
Two of Jesus’ friends were walking along together, talking about Jesus and how they missed Him: “And . . . Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him . . . . As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.’ . . . And . . . while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him . . .” (Luke 24:13-31).
If one day we’re walking and talking, just us, and you looked different,
“I might be surprised, but just for a while. I’d know it was you by your magical smile.”
“It was Joseph, as governor of the country, who dispensed the rations to all the people. When Joseph's brothers came and knelt down before him with their faces to the ground, he recognized them as soon as he saw them. But he concealed his own identity from them . . . . When Joseph recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him . . . . Joseph could no longer control himself . . . . ‘I am Joseph,’ he said to his brothers . . . ‘I am your brother Joseph . . . . do not be distressed’” (Genesis 4 2:6-8; 45:1-5).
Even if you had been away for a long time and didn’t look at all like yourself, “I’d say,
‘My, my . . . that is quite a disguise!’ But I’d know it was you by the gleam in your eyes.”
“A certain man had two sons” and the younger son asked his father for his inheritance in advance; that son left home, spent all the money, and ended up working on a pig farm, trying to eat the same food the pigs ate. “And when he came to himself [realized it was time to go home] . . . he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and . . . ran” to his son and hugged and kissed him and brought him back home again with him to celebrate with a delicious dinner and a homecoming party (Luke 15:11-20, KJV).
“There are things about you quite unlike any other . . .
Things always known by your father or mother.
So, if you decide to be different one day, no worries . . . I’d know you anyway.”
“Whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep . . . and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out . . . . He walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers . . . . I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me . . . . My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:2-5, 14, 27).
“Yes, without question I’d know it was you.” “I know you by heart.”
Because, child of God, “I’d know you anywhere.”