Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, which means we get to hear the story of John, James, and of course, Peter. Oh Peter! We’ll get to him in a moment, for now though, can you imagine being those disciples hiking along with Jesus on this mountaintop journey? First, they hiked up to the top of Mount Hermon, which stands at about 9,200 feet. Next, they watched as Jesus in the midst of prayer began glowing brighter than anything on earth. Then, out of nowhere Moses and Elijah the paragons of the Jewish Faith appeared. And finally, a cloud obscured their vision such that they could not see and a voice spoke from the fog saying, “This is my Son, my chosen; listen to him!” This had to be an intensely overwhelming experience.
We are probably not accustomed to having such spiritual moments. When was the last time that you saw your spiritual leader transfigured by God or joined by some pillars of the Faith? Still, we like the disciples do have peak spiritual moments. We are not immune to both the valleys and the mountains on our journey. In the midst of Peter’s experience of Jesus’ Transfiguration he said something so trivial and out of place that I have a hard time not belittling the disciple. Peter spoke, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” and Luke even adds the editorial comment, “Not knowing what he said.” This sentiment by Peter stands out though as one of the most human responses to an encounter with the Divine.
More people now believe that they have had an encounter with the Divine than in previous generations over the last 100 years, says the Pew Research Center. Maybe it is not quite like what Peter, John, and James saw on top of the mountain, but something is happening in our desire for and our belief in connections with God. Our response to these encounters though seems woefully undisciplined. I can hardly recall a time growing up when I learned what to do when or if I felt like I had some sort of epiphany or spiritual experience. Often then we respond like Peter, not knowing what we do or say.
The typical human response to Divinity is to encase God somehow. From primitive societies up to this very moment we have been trying to make a home for God, just like Peter did during the Transfiguration. This is not a bad thing, this is just what we do. We want to be able to come back to the overwhelming moment with God. We yearn to hold onto God. We desire some reliable way of getting spiritually high. And yet, this story of the Transfiguration actually provides us with a blueprint to how we might respond to feeling the overabundant presence of the Almighty.
After Peter said his comment, after God came and spoke, and after things went back to normal (if that was even possible for the disciples) everything went silent, stark, and quiet. The disciples, probably in shock from being some of the only people to come into the direct presence of the Almighty without dying, could not say anything. And so they did not. They remained silent as they descended down the mountain. They would not even speak of this experience for weeks, not until after Jesus died and was raised. This might be a good guide to the divine life.
All of us live in immediate proximity of the Divine. In our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls, in our relationships, in Creation around us is God’s omnipresent nature. We may not always recognize it, but God is always here with us. Sometimes those moments when everything seems right make us want to hold onto the moment like Peter did. Instead maybe we could just enjoy the contact with God. Perhaps we can allow that moment to permeate our beings. I can sometimes want to talk so much about what I have experienced—I know it’s an occupational hazard of being a priest. And yet, when we meet God the most fitting response might just be to be… to be quiet, to be silent, and to be reverent, as we allow this experience to shape us and form us. Let us look to the Transfiguration as an example of how we might be transformed by God, quietly taking in Divine Communion as God permeates our entire existence.
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