What It Takes to See the Glory (Reflections on the Transfiguration, part 2)
There is a fascinating detail in Luke’s version of the Transfiguration not in Mark and Matthew’s account that I think is very instructive. Luke says, “Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake (or “when they were fully awake,” NRSV footnote), they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him” (9:32). When they were fully awake, they saw his glory. Luke wants his readers to be fully awake, to be alert and attentive, to be open, receptive, and tuned in, because one never knows when and where one might encounter God’s glory. If God’s glory is everywhere, then we may encounter that glory anywhere. Remember the story of Jacob at Bethel . After his dream and encounter with the Divine, Jacob says, “Surely the Lord is in this place – I did not know it.” Then he says, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven.” Well, that could be said of any ordinary place where we go about carrying...