Tag: Transfiguration

Burning Yet

Jesus took Peter, John, and James
and went up the mountain to pray.
While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.
And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,
but becoming fully awake,
they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
—Luke 9:28b-36

I've walked the valley, and I've climbed the mountain
to chase the hints and glimpses of your face,
and still do I believe I'll see your bounty
here in this place.

But it's a hard road, this land of the living,
and I a stone that rolls along its tracks—
compassionate as stone and as forgiving
until it cracks.

I break and seek you still through all my days here—
how rarely is my way lit by a spark!
Where is the light that guides me toward salvation
through all the dark?

But darkness is not dark to you—I glimpse it
in moments when I cannot trust my sense,
that as I wait for night to be transfigured
it's burning yet;

that every inch of road runs over Tabor;
that every step I take is in the light
that you have hidden in a human savior,
the heart of Christ.

And my own heart, world-weary and unfeeling,
will melt into your glory when it's shown.
The light is always here: Though I can't see it,
it brings me home.
ALG169046 The Transfiguration, 1594-95 (oil on canvas) by Carracci, Lodovico (1555-1619) oil on canvas 438×268 Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna, Italy Alinari Italian, out of copyright

Lodovico Carracci, 1594- http://www.valtorta.org/the_transfiguration_defaultpage.asp, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8768456

Peter on Tabor

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, 
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents: 
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; 
from the cloud came a voice, 
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
—Mark 9:2-10

'Tis good, Lord, to be here,
to see with my own eyes
yourself, O Rabbi, dazzling clear
against the cloud-dark skies.

Oh!  Let me build a shrine—
let me forever stay
here where I see your glory shine,
here in eternal day.

Take not the downward road—
I'm clinging to the height!
Down in the valley, shadows grow—
Why must you hide the light?

Better to stay up here—
Oh, but they call you down,
down to the wounds that must be healed,
the lost that must be found.

If you must, so must I—
you're my beloved, too.
Where you go, I go—live or die,
I still will follow you—

and where you stand, I'll stand,
someday to stand in joy,
for you are my true promised land;
you are my still, small voice.

Then let us go, my Lord,
down to Jersusalem.
I know you will show me light once more
in your endless day.  Amen.

Transfiguration of Jesus  By Raphael – Downloaded from Artist Hideout, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=379381

Ram

God put Abraham to the test.
He called to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am!” he replied.
Then God said:
“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
on a height that I will point out to you.”

Genesis 22:1-18
From our first taste in Eden,
we've feasted on our strife
'til sin consumes our children—
as Cain took Abel's life.

And long we've tried to barter
or bargain, blood for blood,
to soothe the brokenhearted—
God drowned our tears in flood.

Not even losing Isaac
could heal the brutal rift
or Hagar sent to exile
and Ishmael cut adrift.

No sacrifice we offered
could ever clear our debt—
It was already all yours,
no matter how we bled.

Yet now the Son of David
steps in for Adam's sons.
For Esau and for Jacob,
you offered up your own.

The Son of Man, God-with-us,
will go to Calvary.
The ram within the thicket
sets all the children free.

From a 14th-century Icelandic manuscript of Stjórn By Unknown author – From the 14th century Icelandic manuscript AM 277 fol., now in the care of the Árni Magnússon Institute in Iceland., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17700394

Transfigured

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.

Matthew 17:1-9
Today and yesterday the same,
forever always Christ,
yet here you burn with such a flame
I hardly recognize.

You are the way that led me here
to Tabor's mountain height;
you are the truth, how deep I fear;
you are this burning life.

Show me the light I'd never seen
that rises in your eyes;
show me where you have always been,
divinity disguised.

And as I watch my passing days,
my ordinary nights,
teach me to see where you still blaze
and make these moments bright.

Show me your ever-glowing spark,
and let it be a light
within the shadows of my heart
until your day dawns bright.

Now as I follow in your way,
new Tabors I will find:
You show your glory day by day,
and in my eyes it shines.

12th-century icon of the Transfiguration By Unknown author – Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai (Egypt) / K. Weitzmann: “Die Ikone”, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3859855

No Tent For You On Tabor

For the Transfiguration:

No tent for you on Tabor;
no tabernacle there
where pilgrim crowds may savor
your presence on the air.
No structures; only shining
too bright for mortal eyes,
our sense no more confining
the life that yet will rise.

O Christ, what is this vision?
The Law and Prophets speak
as if they knew your mission,
the end of all you seek.
What is this brightness' shadow
that falls upon us here?
What is this voice that shatters
and racks our hearts with fear?

And then—O Lord!—it's over
as soon as it was there.
The barest hint of glory,
yet more that we could bear.
You were revealed before us
more bright than shines the sun:
Prepare our hearts to hold this
for endless years to come.

Byzantine artwork, c. 1200 By Unknown artist (Byzantine Empire)) – Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011), CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14716629

On Tabor’s Height

Jesus took Peter, John, and James

and went up the mountain to pray.

While he was praying his face changed in appearance

and his clothing became dazzling white.

And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,

who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus

that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.

Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,

but becoming fully awake,

they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.

As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,

“Master, it is good that we are here;

let us make three tents,

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

But he did not know what he was saying.

While he was still speaking,

a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,

and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.

Then from the cloud came a voice that said,

“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

They fell silent and did not at that time

tell anyone what they had seen.

Luke 9:28b-36
This is the light from Bethlehem,
the cloud of Exodus,
the still, small voice behind the wind
revealing Christ to us.

The days all meet on Tabor's height:
The culminating years
here coalesce in dawning light,
and we fall down in fear.

The law and prophecy collide
as light and shade are one
and heaven fills the mountainside:
“This is my chosen Son!”

O Christ transfigured, friend transformed,
what wonders have we seen?
That something greater, something more,
that you have always been.

And yet you linger with us here:
Your work is not yet done.
What we have seen is not yet clear:
The glory of the Son.

Then teach us still as we descend
from Tabor to the grave:
Your road does not at Calv'ry end;
your light will never fade.
Nativity, above, and Transfiguration below, 1025–1050, Cologne By Kölner Meister eines Evangelienbuches – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=153557

As a Mother Loves

For the Transfiguration during Lent. To the tune ST. THOMAS (“Down In Adoration Falling”):

 As a mother loves her infant,
 as a father loves his child,
 so the God of depth and distance
 loves us each across the miles.
 Though we stand far off as sinners,
 still he longs to reconcile.
  
 Should a mother cease her loving,
 should a father turn away,
 God his love is ever proving
 with new mercies every day,
 still through earth and heaven moving
 here to meet us in our way.
  
 When we climb, approaching heaven,
 now we do not climb alone,
 for our God to us has given
 Christ, his own begotten One.
 Draw near to the peak and listen:
“This is my belovèd Son.”

He who opens heaven's portal,
 he the firstborn of the dead,
 he redeems the wounded mortal,
 sinless for the sinners bled.
 Brother to the lost and orphaned,
 feeds them with the blood he shed.
  
 Jesus, Isaac's sure salvation,
 Christ, the one true sacrifice,
 here from his Transfiguration,
 law and prophets at his side,
 goes to meet his condemnation,
 loves us all beyond all price.
Adi Holzer Werksverzeichnis 835 Abrahams Opfer By Adi Holzer, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16114440

A Greater Light

For the Transfiguration reading during Lent. To the tune CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM (“Creator of the Stars of Night”):

 A greater light than we can bear
 illumines all the mountain peak
 as Christ reveals his nature there
 and shows the road before his feet.
  
 From mountain height to Calv'ry hill
 a bitter valley lies between,
 but Christ pursues his Father's will
 unto the death he has foreseen.
  
 For he is God's belovèd Son
 and to his Father offers all
 that we may live with God as one,
 in answer to our Father's call.
  
 The glory seen on Tabor's height
 holds Moses and Elijah rapt,
 and we are called into that light
 along the road that Christ has mapped.
  
 Come, then, and join in his descent
 from mountain light to valley dark.
 From every other road repent,
 and journey through his very heart.
  
 Until his light enfolds us there
 where Moses and Elijah praise,
 when love divine we've learned to bear
 and share with Christ for endless days.
The Transfiguration, c. 1490 By Giovanni Bellini – 1. Oceansbridge2. The Bridgeman Art Library, Object 112975, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20806008

Double Feature: Spring & Transfiguration Psalm

Spring

Last summer's kite got tangled in the tree,
deformed by knots and twigs, its brightness torn,
it sat forlorn and hidden in the leaves
who dropped in fall, and lo! It was reborn!

A garish blossom on the barest limb,
the winter wind its petals could not wound.
And louder than wind, it colored a hymn
against the gray sky: “Spring is coming soon!”

And come it did, in time for an old man
who's missed his mother nearly ninety years
to fly to her, just as the leaves began
unfurling round the kite. What are these tears?

Come, spring! Come, life! Come, rising sap and bud,
rejoicing as you open winter's tomb!
I know you'll not forget what now lies hid:
bright hope still singing, “Spring is coming soon!”
Transfiguration, By Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, 1824 – http://nnm.ru/blogs/hhnu/ivanov_aleksandr_andreevich_1806_1858/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9086637
Transfiguration Psalm

Why are you changed, while I am mud and dust?
I thought you came here to be one of us.

Where, then, my light? Where is the awesome voice
that could name me “beloved” at its choice?

I grovel in the dirt; you float above
as if you won't be touched even for love.

This cloud descending—God! But it is cold!
And presses me face-down in muck and mold.

Is this your glory? Joy in dust's return?
Why bother, then, to make the poor dust yearn?

If you are one of us, reach out your hand
to touch my withered flesh and help me stand,

and leave the light, and bid the cloud be gone
to share our paltry stars of dusk and dawn

as those who trail not up Tabor but down
will share with you the lashes and the crown.

This vision makes no sense to one who dies,
so save it for the ones who wake and rise.

We still have so much suffering to get through;
do not suggest we do it without you.