A Story Unfolding
BY ELISE GOWER | August 7, 2023
Sunday’s Readings
Growing up, my siblings and I would pass the Sunday newspaper to each take our turn at the Magic Eye puzzle.
First my brother, “Got it!”
Then my sister, “Yep, found it!”
I inevitably, I extended my time, holding the paper to my nose and slowly moving it away.
I just couldn’t see it.
Each time, my mom would try to uplift my spirits, reminding me that I was seeing the art everyone skipped past.
Despite her best efforts, I wanted to see something more.
The Transfiguration has always felt like a bit of stretch for me.
Particularly when I try to connect scripture to my daily life.
What does this mountaintop experience look like? Am I just not able to see it?
Kelly Latimore’s Glitch Transfiguration reveals something new to me. As do his words to describe it.
“Like Peter in Matthew 17, we are often tempted to try and create our own transfigurations…”
Imaginative God, why do we limit ourselves from encountering the depths of Your creation?
“…Although we often mean well using grand displays of music, liturgy, and art to bring “The divine down to earth.” the thing is, what we are trying to contain is always right in front of us.”
Incarnate God, to love is to see beyond what the eye beholds.
Open our eyes to the works of our hearts.
“…Peter fails to see that Jesus cannot be confined to one location.”
Abundant God, you are in all things.
“…We are being called to follow Jesus to Jerusalem, into the unknown. The light we think we hold has already been reflecting and scattering in all directions…”
Transfiguration God, open us to the holy unknowns of a story unfolding.
For Reflection:
- Where am I called to open myself to the vastness of God?
- Where or how might I confine God to my limited “view”?
Elise Gower is drawn to the art of sacred storytelling. She is committed to individual and collective antiracism work and fostering connections between spirituality and LGBTQ+ identity.
I have always thought that religion’s idea of God is like the blind men describing an elephant. One describes the trunk, another the tail, another the legs, another an ear. Our view of God is often limited by our culture and religious upbringing. When we acknowledge that God is in all that He has created, including ourselves, perhaps we have an infinitisimal understanding of God our Creator. The old saying, I am closest to God in my garden than anywhere else on earth.
God does reach out to us in the simplest and fascinating ways of His. He is there in the garden, he is there in the trees and even the storms, he is there for us when we recognize the God who lives in others and is calling out for our awareness too. He is there in the moonlight and sunshine and in the times of darkness. Let us thank God for all thewonderful things he has done for us and is with us.
The good Lord is everywhere. His majesty fills the Earth.