Change?!?
The story is told concerning a man who was celebrating his 100th birthday. He was approached by a news reporter, "I suppose you've seen a lot of changes in your day?" "Yes," said the centenarian, "and I've been against everyone of them."
Ah yes, Change: that ever-present force of reality as guaranteed as death and taxes. the one thing we can't change in life is the inevitability of change itself. And yet, even though we know this at some level of recognition, don't we all go through life acting as if things aren't going to change, or that what change comes our way is insignificant?
Take for instance the fact that we all expect the sun to rise each day, and that the ground beneath us will support our weight and hold up our homes? And then along comes an earthquake, like in Haiti or Afghanistan or Indonesia or Southern California, and suddenly even that in which we had placed so much trust is no longer so trustworthy. Terra Firma ain't so firma no more, as they say.
Or take someone you know quite well and work with or associate with daily. You know who they are because they are basically the same person day in and day out. A few things change over time - a wrinkle here or there, a grey hair or two - but these are to be expected. The person beneath the superficiality of the dermal layer is still heart and soul the one you've known so long.
But what happens when that person suddenly reveals an unexpected dimension of himself or herself that calls into question everything about them that you had presumed? What happens when someone suddenly transforms beyond the normal boundaries of variation and development?
The Gospel lesson for this Sunday portrays one such event in the life of three of Jesus' disciples. Jesus was transformed before their eyes up on the top of a mountain. Tradition states that the Mount was Mt. Tabor about 10-12 miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee. This picture, found on the Sacred Destinations website shows Mt. Tabor in the distance, across the Jezreel plain.
The next picture shows it more closely from the south side.
Imagine yourself hiking to the top of this mountain, which climbs about 1000 feet above the plain below. Although the elevation is not all that great, the steep slopes make a climb quite strenuous. Having reached the summit, your view might be something like this:
But on top, the bright light you see is not the sun shining through clouds or across the plain at sunset. It is coming from your companion, the one with whom you have been traipsing around the countryside.
The scene is very vivid, and is just the sort of thing George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic makes happen in Hollywood movies. In fact, it is a favorite way to represent an incredible transformation. Think of Beauty and the Beast, or more recently, Shrek. Think of the movie Cocoon, where the true bodies of the alien creatures visiting earth shine like lights. This image of the transfiguration of Jesus has provided the archetype of all such transformations. In fact, the word for transfigured in Greek is Metemorphôthê from the same root word as our word metamorphosis. And so, 2000 years before Hollywood, we have this incredible scene of transformation and change.
So imagine this incredible change and what your reaction would be. Would you run screaming away? Would you stand there in stupified wonder? Would you faint? Read the story in Matthew or in Luke or in Mark and see what the three friends of Jesus did.
So, how do you handle change? And what do you do when the unchanging changes?
Ah yes, Change: that ever-present force of reality as guaranteed as death and taxes. the one thing we can't change in life is the inevitability of change itself. And yet, even though we know this at some level of recognition, don't we all go through life acting as if things aren't going to change, or that what change comes our way is insignificant?
Take for instance the fact that we all expect the sun to rise each day, and that the ground beneath us will support our weight and hold up our homes? And then along comes an earthquake, like in Haiti or Afghanistan or Indonesia or Southern California, and suddenly even that in which we had placed so much trust is no longer so trustworthy. Terra Firma ain't so firma no more, as they say.
Or take someone you know quite well and work with or associate with daily. You know who they are because they are basically the same person day in and day out. A few things change over time - a wrinkle here or there, a grey hair or two - but these are to be expected. The person beneath the superficiality of the dermal layer is still heart and soul the one you've known so long.
But what happens when that person suddenly reveals an unexpected dimension of himself or herself that calls into question everything about them that you had presumed? What happens when someone suddenly transforms beyond the normal boundaries of variation and development?
The Gospel lesson for this Sunday portrays one such event in the life of three of Jesus' disciples. Jesus was transformed before their eyes up on the top of a mountain. Tradition states that the Mount was Mt. Tabor about 10-12 miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee. This picture, found on the Sacred Destinations website shows Mt. Tabor in the distance, across the Jezreel plain.The next picture shows it more closely from the south side.
Imagine yourself hiking to the top of this mountain, which climbs about 1000 feet above the plain below. Although the elevation is not all that great, the steep slopes make a climb quite strenuous. Having reached the summit, your view might be something like this:
But on top, the bright light you see is not the sun shining through clouds or across the plain at sunset. It is coming from your companion, the one with whom you have been traipsing around the countryside.
The scene is very vivid, and is just the sort of thing George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic makes happen in Hollywood movies. In fact, it is a favorite way to represent an incredible transformation. Think of Beauty and the Beast, or more recently, Shrek. Think of the movie Cocoon, where the true bodies of the alien creatures visiting earth shine like lights. This image of the transfiguration of Jesus has provided the archetype of all such transformations. In fact, the word for transfigured in Greek is Metemorphôthê from the same root word as our word metamorphosis. And so, 2000 years before Hollywood, we have this incredible scene of transformation and change. So imagine this incredible change and what your reaction would be. Would you run screaming away? Would you stand there in stupified wonder? Would you faint? Read the story in Matthew or in Luke or in Mark and see what the three friends of Jesus did.
So, how do you handle change? And what do you do when the unchanging changes?
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