The Transfiguration

The Collect
O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Psalm
99

The Readings
Exodus 34:29-35     +     II Peter 1:13-21     +     Luke 9:28-36

 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 
~Luke 9:28-30

Reflecting on this feast and how it intersects with her life as a parent, Kit Lonergan at Grow Christians writes:

The three disciples are overwhelmed. In the midst of this deep clarity of Jesus’ nature, they ask if they can make three dwellings, so that this image, this proof, this evidence of the divinity of Jesus can stay among and with them. The transfiguration comes to an end when the prophets disappear, Jesus is as he was, and the disciples are left with the powerful memory and experience of a deep moment of transformation.

There are the moments as a parent, when I wish the experience would last forever. The warm, content child in your arms. The flicker of a milestone achieved. The first smile, first laugh. When you see or hear of them trying really hard at something, regardless of how it all ends up. When they are kind to another person. When they ask a question, and you had no idea that that cognition or wonder was there already.

Harnessing those memories comes in different ways. But each way I think more and more, is destined to fail or disappoint if I imagine that they will bring me back to that same place . . .

I love the disciples in this story. PLEASE, Jesus, we need this moment. We want this to stay, to define us, to prove that we were right, they say.

Jesus responds to ALL of his disciples, reminding us that some moments can’t be harnessed, that we can’t all live in the beautiful profound places all the time. But these moments can change the way we live, and love, and hallow our memories. They are meant to transform us, not to transport us. To make the now better, rather than to provide an escape.

Read the rest here.

Closing Prayer

Help us, Lord Jesus, in the midst of the turmoil and disquietude, to see you, and to walk confidently in the light of that vision. Amen.