Transfiguration

Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, which is universally recognized across the Western and Eastern Communions on August 6.  Most of us are accustomed to hearing the story of Jesus’ dazzling mountaintop transfiguration when it is told the Last Sunday in Epiphany; however, when the feast day falls on a Sunday, we get to hear the story again in the middle of the summer!

This year, the story comes as a refreshing reminder of the ways in which the everyday experiences, words, and relationships of our lives can take on entirely new meaning in a matter of minutes.  When Jesus went up the mountain to pray with his friends, Peter, James, and John, he was just Jesus…but then, in an instant, his appearance was luminously transformed, his clothing, dazzling white. There he was, standing alongside the great prophets, Moses and Elijah, and the meaning of his ministry made sense in an entirely different way.

So much of the time when we think about this story, we focus on the change that happened to Jesus.  But what if instead the Transfiguration was not an alteration to Jesus, but rather a change in the three disciples who were there watching. Perhaps, after months of living with Jesus and serving alongside him, their eyes were finally opened enough to see to the fullness of his reality – his connection to the great prophetic witness that had preceded him and to the divine promises to be fulfilled. This is not to say that some sort of transfiguring experience didn’t happen, but that the disciples themselves were changed enough to discern who Jesus was all along.

In much the same way, the changes that we see in the people, events, and circumstances of our lives may have a lot more to do with a change in the way we see than with any intrinsic change in the objects of our observation.  Think about the times you’ve “seen” a change in someone— an aspect of their character, their behavior, their intellect.  Have you considered the extent to which your own life experiences, attitudes, and biases might have changed your perception?  What may have veiled your vision in the past and what might now be causing that veil to be lifted?

Conversely, what would it be like if we intentionally refined our perspectives by trying to see things as others see them, listen to what we don’t normally like to hear, or act “as if” we trusted or liked or wanted what we’ve struggled to trust or like or want?  Do you think that some of the changes we’ve desired in our relationships, our circumstances, and our ability to communicate would begin to appear?  So often we hear, “be the change you want to see in the world.” Perhaps we might add to that, “but first, learn to see differently.”  

As we hear in today’s reading from 2 Peter, “You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

In Christ,

Amelie+