The Oasis - February 15, 2023
Author: Rev. Eric Dupee
February 15, 2023
This week is Transfiguration Sunday. In Matthew 17:1-9, Jesus ascended a mountain with some of his disciples and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes turned bright white. The story that provides the background for the Transfiguration of Jesus is the text we will use in worship this Sunday, Exodus 24:12-18, in which Moses ascends the mountain and receives the law and commandments.
I have been reflecting on these scriptures in light of another mass shooting in our country and all the suffering taking place following the earthquake on the border of Turkey and Syria. When I came across a poem composed by a colleague of mine, I felt the words were well worth sharing. In the midst of so much sadness, his words gave me hope. His poem concludes with these words:
Jesus is the lighthouse shining at the mouth of the bay
where we enter the narrows of death,
shining to show us the way through
to deeper, wider life.
The light emboldens us to enter the dark –
the neglected, the unseen, the unfamiliar, the unloved –
to find there, healing and beauty and resurrection.
In this dazzling light, if we trust it, if we follow it,
we ourselves may be transfigured.
By Steve Garnaas-Holmes from his website UNFOLDING LIGHT
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