Reading
2 Peter 1:16
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Devotion
August 6th is the Feast of the Transfiguration, shown here in Danish artist Carl Bloch's painting of the event from the 1800's. This painting lives in Frederiksborg Castle, in Hillerød, Denmark. It is part of a collection of 33 religious paintings Bloch produced between 1865 and 1879 for the King's chapel.
I like the way this painting portrays the difficulty of beholding otherworldliness. Jesus is engulfed in supernatural light, along with Moses and Elijah. Clouds surround them. The disciples, Peter and James and John, are struggling to see. I am curious about how their upraised hands are mirrored by the plants on the right-hand side of the scene. It is as if creation itself is engaged in beholding, in the words of theologian Rudolf Otto, the 'Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans' a fearful awe that is at the same time inviting. (More on this subject may be found here: Rudolf Otto's 'Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans')
We have become so accustomed to seeing only the material world, the things that we can measure, the things we can touch/taste/smell/feel/etc. I am especially guilty of embracing my Missouri heritage and saying "Well, I'm from Missourah, so you will have to show me." Seeing is believing. I wonder if, however, the reverse might be more true, that believing is seeing? Perhaps the habits of our mind condition the way we see things? Perhaps you too, dear reader, have had to revise what you thought about something or someone? The Feast of the Transfiguration reminds me that there is ALWAYS more to see than I am seeing.
Prayer
O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)