S1E59 - My Fourth Day Has Begun: Reflections From Walk to Emmaus #128
What a night.
I had just returned from Houston North Walk to Emmaus #128, September 17–20, 2026, and instead of simply telling the story myself, this episode became something much bigger: a live Fourth Day conversation with several of the brothers who experienced the weekend alongside me, along with family, friends and members of the Blissful Connections community.
Even a few technical difficulties with our live radio stream at the beginning couldn't stop the conversation. Once we got rolling, we went for more than two hours!
From Three Days to a Fourth Day
The Walk itself lasted three days, but one of the biggest lessons I brought home is that the Fourth Day is every day that follows.
Throughout the evening, we reflected on the fifteen talks and themes we encountered during the Walk, including Priority, Prevenient Grace, the Priesthood of All Believers, Justifying Grace, Life of Piety, Growing Through Study, Means of Grace, Christian Action, Obstacles to Grace, Discipleship, Changing Our World, Sanctifying Grace, the Body of Christ, Perseverance and finally the Fourth Day.
I also wanted to protect the surprises of the Walk. This wasn't intended to reveal everything that happens during an Emmaus weekend. Instead, we talked about what those experiences meant to us once we came home.
Priority: Sometimes We Need an Off Switch
One of my biggest lessons began with a simple question:
What are my priorities—and does the way I actually live reflect them?
During the Walk, I disconnected from ordinary life. Email stopped. Text messages stopped. Work stopped. My phone was primarily an accessibility tool.
And the world kept turning!
That experience reminded me that rest and intentional disconnection aren't wasted time. Sometimes I need an off switch so I can make room for God, relationships, reflection and the things I claim matter most.
Grace Before, During and After
Grace became one of the threads running through our entire conversation.
We talked about Prevenient Grace—the grace that goes before us, sometimes visible only when we look backward.
We discussed Justifying Grace, forgiveness and the freedom of recognizing that I don't have to spend the rest of my life prosecuting myself for mistakes I've already confronted.
And we explored Sanctifying Grace as continuing transformation. Growth doesn't require instant perfection. I'm still becoming.
Several of my brothers shared their own experiences of recognizing God's grace through circumstances, relationships and timing that they understood differently only in hindsight.
Ministry Doesn't Require a Pulpit
The Priesthood of All Believers was another lesson that landed deeply for me.
I've never felt called to become a pastor, and Emmaus didn't suddenly change that. But ministry isn't limited to clergy.
My microphone can be ministry.
Helping another blind person learn technology can be ministry.
Accessibility advocacy can be ministry.
Listening to somebody who's struggling can be ministry.
Creating Blissful Connections can be ministry.
That flowed naturally into our discussion of Christian Action. Service doesn't always mean doing something enormous. Sometimes it's rebuilding after a disaster. Sometimes it's providing transportation, teaching somebody VoiceOver on an iPhone, praying for somebody or simply showing up.
The question becomes: What gifts do I already have, and how can I use them to serve somebody else?
Piety, Study and Discipleship
We also talked about maintaining a relationship with God through prayer, Scripture, worship, Communion, reflection and community.
For me, studying Scripture doesn't necessarily mean sitting down and visually reading enormous sections of the Bible. As a blind person—and simply as someone who learns differently—I can use audio Bibles, Bible apps, discussions, sermons and other accessible resources.
The goal isn't simply accumulating information.
It's transformation.
Our conversation ultimately brought piety, study and action together under discipleship: heart, mind, hands and feet working together as part of an ongoing relationship with Christ.
Forgiveness, Emotional Growth and Letting Go
I also shared some deeply personal reflections about difficult seasons of my own life.
I've experienced anger, hurt, conflict and times when I pulled away from God. I've spent the last several years learning more about emotional regulation, boundaries, forgiveness and myself.
Emmaus didn't erase that work. It gave me another way of understanding it.
I can acknowledge where others hurt me without assuming responsibility for everything that happened.
I can also acknowledge what was mine, seek forgiveness, learn from it and release it.
That applies to my hopes for the future too. I still desire love, marriage, intimacy and family. I can pray about those desires and prepare myself for them without allowing them to become things I desperately try to control.
Brotherhood, Community and Agape
One of the most meaningful parts of this episode was that I wasn't reflecting alone.
My fellow Walk #128 brothers joined me and brought their own experiences into the conversation. We talked about our lives, our similarities and differences, service, relationships, accessibility, faith and what we're carrying into our Fourth Day.
We also talked about the incredible community surrounding Emmaus and the importance of continuing afterward through reunion groups, worship, prayer, study and Christian fellowship.
And then there's the agape.
I came home with letters and expressions of love from family, friends, mentors and people representing many different chapters of my life. Some made me laugh. Some made me think. Some touched me deeply.
They reinforced something I'm still processing:
Sometimes we don't fully know what our lives have meant to other people until they tell us.
De Colores!
Throughout the evening you heard us say:
De Colores! 🌈✝️
It's a joyful expression deeply associated with the Emmaus community and the colorful, renewed life of Christian faith.
And if this conversation has made you curious about the Walk to Emmaus, don't take my episode as a sales pitch or an attempt to pressure you into attending. Learn about it, ask questions and decide for yourself whether it's something you'd like to explore.
Jonathan and JD generously dropped official Emmaus resources into our live Zoom chat during the episode. Jonathan provided the Houston North Emmaus Community website and The Upper Room's community directory, while JD shared the main Walk to Emmaus resource.
Learn More About Walk to Emmaus
For information about the program itself and to begin looking for an Emmaus community near you:
The Upper Room — Walk to Emmaus
For listeners here in the greater Houston area:
Houston North Emmaus Community
For Texas listeners, Jonathan also shared:
Find Walk to Emmaus Communities in Texas
These resources were shared during the live conversation specifically so listeners interested in Emmaus could learn more.
And because the Blissful Connections podcast isn't limited to Houston—or even Texas—listeners elsewhere can start with the main Walk to Emmaus resource and explore what's available in their area.
Continue Your Own Blissful Connections Journey
Maybe Emmaus isn't what brought you to this episode.
Maybe you're working through your own questions about faith and spirituality.
Maybe it's relationships.
Communication.
Forgiveness.
Boundaries.
Personal growth.
Life transitions.
Or maybe you're simply trying to determine what comes next.
That's what Blissful Connections is about.
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Both of these resources were also shared with the live audience at the end of tonight's conversation.
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My Fourth Day Has Begun
Walk #128 didn't hand me a completed spiritual life.
It gave me things to carry forward.
Priority. Grace. Piety. Study. Action. Forgiveness. Community. Perseverance.
And now comes the part that matters:
Living them.
The outside world is still here. The emails came back. The responsibilities came back. The radio show came back. The difficult days will come back too.
But I came home looking at some of those things differently.
The Walk lasted three days.
I'll spend the rest of my life discovering what I do with them.
My Fourth Day has begun.
De Colores! 🌈✝️
— Saylor Cooper
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