Dear Friends,
Blessed Feast of the Transfiguration! Today, we mark - well, if you read the passage on the transfiguration in Luke 9, it’s still a bit hard to say what exactly we’re marking. As Jesus gathers with Peter, John, and James on a mountaintop in prayer, He is made visibly different, but this is not the Ascension. Jesus is visibly changed, but only in subtle ways, really. The strangest part of it all, really, is the appearance of Moses and Elijah. The whole thing feels very “cool story, bro” - but what’s this whole thing about?
Part of what sets the Transfiguration apart from a lot of our other core stories is that, the minute you try to explain why it matters, rather than just what happened, it becomes clear just how little we understand about the event. I have a vague recollection of the Feast of the Transfiguration last year. I had begun attending our church’s monthly Family Mass, telling stories on the ground, singing, celebrating the Eucharist in the language we speak every day. And I remember talking to my priest before the service - there aren’t any children’s songs for the Transfiguration, or an action-packed story to act out. So, I ask again, what’s this whole thing about?
I think it takes a moment like this one to make sense of the Transfiguration. Think about it: Jesus was changed - outwardly, at least - in only subtle ways, but in that moment, two of the most important, wisest figures, critical links to tradition. And, though the story ends with a voice from the cloud ordering the onlookers to listen to Jesus, this isn’t a story about Jesus changing as much as it is about his followers changing - and that’s precisely the space we are all living in right now. The problem is that there’s a significant shortage of wise people to listen to.
So, what do we do? With this story? With ourselves?
Peter, James, and John wanted to build altars to Jesus, Moses, and Elijah at the site of the Transfiguration, but Jesus said no. That’s because it doesn’t do us any good to enshrine wisdom. We need to be actively attuned to it, engage with it, and use it. And, we need to teach the children in our lives how to discern between empty words and wisdom. Wisdom literature, like the Book of Proverbs, can help, but wisdom comes from many places and it is an evolving thing. Most importantly, it can come from anywhere.
Right now, I think the closest thing we have to wisdom is the willingness to accept that things are changing (as the Serenity Prayer concludes, evolution, acceptance, and wisdom go hand in hand). The rate of change over these last months has been hard for all of us to grapple with, but accepting that there is very little we can do besides love our neighbors (wear a mask, stay home whenever possible) goes a long way.
The Transfiguration may not be the story you want to try to tell at home, but it’s one you can find ways to live within.
Good luck. We’re all trying our best.
A. Bird