My Blog

Tag: Transfiguration

  • Congratulations! Keep Moving.

    The-transfiguration-of-christ

    The Transfiguration of Christ by the hand of Gay Pogue

    The official feast day for the Transfiguration of Christ is August 6. Since it is normally not on a Sunday, it doesn't get much attention. However, the planners of the Sunday lectionary have placed the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday After the Epiphany each year. You can read Luke's account here.

    Peter, James, and John were with Jesus on the mountaintop when they saw this itinerant rabbi in a whole new light. It was one of the most powerful and numinous of all the manifestations of Jesus as the Messiah. They heard the voice of God confirming the divine nature and mission of the Only Begotten.

    The appearance of Moses the Lawgiver and Elijah the Prophet assure us that Jesus was the One who had come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. It was as if Moses and Elijah were passing their ministries on to Jesus the Messiah for him to complete. 

    Peter's suggestion that they build dwellings and take up residence in the experience reminds us of our tendency to want to stop the procession. When something wonderful happens, we feel as if it can't get any better than this and we want to preserve everything just the way it is. But Jesus had to come down from the mountain, respond to human need, and face the cross. Mountaintop experiences have their place. But there is always more to be done in the mission to which we are called.

    I once heard about a university commencement in which the president's lapel microphone remained on as he was presenting the diplomas to the graduates, broadcasting his voice as he said to each one of them, "Congratulations! Keep moving."

    Perhaps that is a message for us when we have an epiphany, a mountaintop experience. It is an important and wonderful thing, but not an end in itself. We draw inspiration and derive courage from it and we keep moving toward new opportunities God is preparing for us to walk in. "Congratulations! Keep moving."

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

     

  • Seeing Things in a New Light

    Isn’t it amazing what can happen in a relationship when one sees another in an entirely new light?

    Being with my wife during childbirth was such an experience for me.  I saw a strength and courage in her I had never realized was there and it was awesome to me.  We were carried to a new level in our bond with each other through that experience.  I saw her in a new light.

    A silly incident disrupted a friendship with a person who was like a brother to me.  For months we were estranged and did not speak. Then, a time came when we were both involved in an event from which neither of us could gracefully escape.  He was experiencing a serious physical problem at the time and was walking in procession just ahead of me.  I saw him take the arm of the clergyman who was walking beside him to steady himself as pain ran through his body.  My cold heart melted and I felt enormous compassion and concern for my friend.  The next day we had lunch and never again did we let anything interfere with our friendship.  We saw each other in a new light.

    A young man was assessed a stiff penalty after his third DUI offense. Someone close to him recog-nized what was happening and confronted him at the risk of their relationship.  It was the most loving thing to do.  She saw her friend in a new light and, because she did, helped him to see and accept the truth.  He decided to remove alcohol from the position of supreme commander of his life.

    Peter, James, and John were the inner circle of disciples.  They probably knew Jesus better than anyone.  That’s why he took them with him to the holy mountain. When they looked at him, they saw the shining glory of God enveloping him and they witnessed a metamorphosis.  They recognized two other figures standing with Jesus; Moses the lawgiver and Elijah the prophet.  Suddenly they realized something about Jesus they hadn’t understood before: Both the law and the prophets pointed to God’s Messiah and Jesus, their rabbi and friend, is that Messiah.  Perhaps Jesus understood his mission in a new way as he heard the voice of God saying, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am well pleased – listen to him.”

    After they came down from that mountain, Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem and the cross.  What he and his disciples had experienced gave them the new perspective to bear what lay ahead of them.

    The Transfiguration is a story about transition.  Anytime we see in a new light, something within us changes.  We, too, need those epiphanies when God helps us to see people, places, events, and circumstances in a new light.

    Ron Short Signature

  • Congratulations! Keep moving.

    The official feast day for the Transfiguration of Our Lord is August 6.  Since it is normally not on a Sunday, it doesn't get much attention.  However, the planners of the Sunday lectionary have placed the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday After the Epiphany each year.  You can read Luke's account here.

    Peter, James, and John were with Jesus on the mountaintop when they saw this itinerant rabbi in a whole new light. It was one of the most powerful and numinous of all the manifestations of Jesus as the Messiah.  They heard the voice of God confirming the divine nature and mission of the Only Begotten.

    The appearance of Moses the Lawgiver and Elijah the Prophet assure us that Jesus was the One who had come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.  It was as if Moses and Elijah were passing their ministries on to Jesus the Messiah for him to complete. 

    Peter's suggestion that they build dwellings and take up residence in the experience reminds us of our tendency to want to stop the procession.  When something wonderful happens, we feel as if it can't get any better than this and we want to preserve everything just the way it is.  But Jesus had to come down from the mountain, respond to human need, and face the cross.  Mountaintop experiences have their place.  But there is always more to be done in the mission to which we are called.

    I once heard about a university commencement in which the president's lapel microphone remained on as he was presenting the diplomas to the graduates, broadcasting his voice as he said to each one of them, "Congratulations!  Keep moving."

    Perhaps that is a message for us when we have an epiphany, a mountaintop experience.  It is an important and wonderful thing, but not an end in itself.  We draw inspiration and derive courage from it and we keep moving toward new opportunities God is preparing for us to walk in.  "Congratulations!  Keep moving."

    Ron