Transfiguration

The Text:

Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; 
let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."             
He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.                Mark 9:5-6

The Transfiguration of Jesus    Macha Chmakoff

The Whispering: 

This is one of my favorite parts of the otherwise heady narrative on the Transfiguration of Jesus. Here Peter has come face to face with two of the greatest icons of the Jewish faith: Moses and Elijah, the meeting of a lifetime, and all he could do was blather on about building huts for them. Really?

I think we all can relate. We've all caught ourselves blurting out something and known instantly that we are making a mess out of what we are trying to say. Often we speak too soon, as Peter did, and sometimes we just talk too much. 

What might happen if we resisted the temptation to respond, and instead focused on listening more intently and more thoughtfully?

Grace

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.            Isaiah 40: 28-29

Grace       by Agostino Arrivabene

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

This passage always makes me wonder.First, how often do we forget that God is always there loving us, waiting for us, being there for us.  Do we hear that? Believe it? And second, this passage inevitably makes me ruminate on God's grace. How often do we notice God’s grace? And how often do we miss it entirely?

Garrison Keillor reflected on this last fall when he recalled a time when, speeding down a dark, gravel road having been drinking one night many years ago, he almost hit three boys walking down that country road.  Keillor said, “What should have happened did not. Had I hit them, this would have been a deep shadow over the rest of my life. It would have destroyed my life. But it did not, because it didn't happen. What should have happened did not happen.”

How has God’s grace changed your life?