Visions have always been tricky occurrences. Whether they take place on the top of mountains, within the limits of our imagination, or against the backdrop of our everyday lives, they speak primarily to the viewer who is often left struggling to understand just what the vision means. While the meaning is not always clear, their ability to attract our attention and redirect our lives is often the result. The world has always been hungry for glimpses of holiness no matter when they appear.
In today’s Gospel, Peter, James, and John saw Jesus transfigured, an experience that overwhelmed them, leaving them speechless and fearful. That is the way of vision experiences. They have the power to strengthen our spirituality and open us to a whole new world-view. We begin to see holiness imaged in the most unexpected places---in the everyday occurrences of our lives. If we want to see what the disciples saw on the mountaintop, we too can view holiness, provided we look in the right places. Our search becomes successful when holiness is viewed within the faces of those made in God’s image---in you and in me.
Vision experiences require work! If we are willing to put out the work required, vision experiences are waiting for us. That’s the catch! It won’t come to us if we don’t begin to see differently. If we are spiritually “in park,” waiting for some special delivery vision, we will wait forever. Vision experiences are fueled by love. It was love that drew the disciples to the mountaintop, and it will be love that awakens our vision of the holy that surrounds us. However, we might prefer an easier route to holiness, because the journey can be both physically and spiritually challenging. Especially during Lent, the terrain always changes---desert one minute, and uphill climb the next. If we continue to travel in love and faith, our efforts will be rewarded by magical moments along the way, when Jesus springs into view.
Like Peter, James, and John, we are living out our lives in the presence of the glorious risen Christ. Jesus suffered and died and now he is the risen Lord, transfigured in glory. Each time we gather for liturgy, it is the transfigured Jesus whom we meet. In every sacramental experience, in every proclamation of the Word, wherever two or three gather in his name, and in every breath of the Spirit, it is the transfigured Jesus whom we encounter. On our Lenten journey through prayer, fasting, and sharing we hope to encounter him.
By the way we view the events of our lives, in the faces of those whom we meet, and in the lives of all whom we touch, we affirm our blessedness and we become transformed. Each time we see the face of Jesus, even among the least of us, holiness has brightened our view. Yet each time we allow injustice to go unchallenged, our vision is dimmed. Each of us, in so many ways, can reveal the glow of our inner selves, and allow our divinity to shine through for others to see. At those times, our vision, tricky though it may be, becomes crystal clear and our world is never the same.
Let this Lenten journey direct us toward the mountaintops of our lives, glowing brightly by the divinity shining through our everyday lives. This Easter may we acclaim: “I’ve been to the mountaintop and I am on my way to Jerusalem.”
----Deacon Wilson Shierk