“A Time of Reflection and Renewal”

Karen Sloan 14/02/2021

Introduction

“The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.”

Albert Einstein - (The Merging of Spirit and Science) 

Today I opened with a quote from Einstein about the mystery at the heart of the universe, even for a famous physicist.  There is mystery in all of life, it’s what we do with it that matters. 

Today the gospel reading is of the transfiguration, which we will read later.  It is a story of Jesus going up a mountain with some of his disciples transforming into a light that shines so brightly it blinds them and with a voice over that confirms his mission.  The God of all creation, of Moses and Elijah, is being revealed in the Jesus standing before the disciples and they are awe struck and slightly terrified.

But the critical element in the story is not the vision itself, but what happens immediately afterwards.  Jesus ignores Peter’s idea of building huts or chapels or shelters to stay put, but heads down the mountain.. He heads down the mountain to the world, to the people who are lost and forsaken, those who are ill and dying, those poor and destitute.  He heads down the mountain to the authorities and challenges them with his message of love.   He goes down the mountain and makes it plain that he is willing to sacrifice his life for his vision.  The disciples have trouble understanding this part of the action, which is a common theme throughout the gospel.  And often we do too. 

Because the story of Jesus is our story.  It is a universal story of our relationship with God. He was a spirit person, and so are we, even if sometimes we wonder.  It is a story of the path we must all follow, a path that has both an inward and outward journey. We can have mountain top experiences, times when the walls seem thin between ourselves and God, when the divine seems so close we can touch, hear and feel it within us.  It might come in silence, but these times are often not when you think, maybe listening to music, watching a sunset or sunrise, exploring the stars and planets, in poetry or prose, or in dancing and singing, when we are awe struck. A time when our faith seems real and deep.

Yet we also have to come down the mountain.  We have to come down the mountain and into, as Frederick Beuchner would say, “the fragrant muck and misery and marvel of the world”. We need to come down the mountain with Jesus and share the spirit of love and life that lies within each one of us. For it is here that the spirit comes alive.

It is funny that some people think that God is only found in one or other place, or only in certain people or only in one of the journeys but that is not true. The Jews had to find that out when their temple was destroyed. God is found everywhere, both on the mountain top and in the world.  As Jesus is recorded as saying, love God and love your neighbour, both are required for faith to be real.

But often time is at a premium and we either do not leave the mountain or we never leave the coalface.

So In keeping with all of that, we are going to have a different type of service, one in which we will have space and time to reflect and listen or just be still, using some taize songs, and a time to think of others and what we can do. Both journeys woven into a service of worship.

Music is so central to the Taize experience.   It is the language of the universe, of creation and of us. 

As many of you know In a Taize service short songs repeated give a meditative character.  As words are sung over many times, the basic reality of God can become manifest in our lives, both as individuals and a community. We can sense it, feel it, and much like any type of music can take us to another place, another dimension when we open ourselves to it, so can this. It can lead us into the light so we can be light to others

Because we have some children, we will have a children’s address, and a time of sharing .  And lots of singing, but not traditional hymns, mm, actually one, so please join in. There will be no sermon, no teaching, for you are better teachers than you think, no talk of sin or repentance or forgiveness.  We are here together, for ourselves, for one another and for the world.

So let’s get started…we will remain seated. With masks on if you so desire….. (what followed was a service of music, reflection, some laughter and sharing, some compassion and caring for others, all refreshment for the journey).

Mark 9:2-9

The Transfiguration

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Jesus saw the God of the universe in himself, and in us, and knew the path he had to follow.   On that mountain the disciples saw it too. The Celts call this a thin place where the veil lifts between the visible world of our ordinary experience, and the sacred, the Spirit of God.  This story is one that holds that truth, that expresses that truth.  The disciples saw that truth shining through the Jesus they had followed.

But as I said before Jesus didn’t stay on the mountain,  he went down the mountain and into the world, taking the disciples with him, even though they wanted to stay and pitch a few tents up there.. 

We all can have times when the walls seem thin between ourselves and God, when the divine seems so close we can touch, hear and feel it within us.  A sense of knowing that suddenly seems very real. When we are awe struck.  But we are not to stay in that space.  These  experiences are important, but what is more important is what we do with them.  We need to come down the mountain with Jesus and share the spirit of love and life that lies within each one of us.  We are to bring it with us into the world for the sake of the world and for those in it.  

For a lived faith does not stay on the mountain. Jesus reveals the path and way to follow for you and me.  A path that has God at its centre.

A path that has the world in its heart.

Karen

I used a poem from Mary Oliver in the service.  Here it is, it’s called Drifting.

Drifting

I was enjoying everything: the rain, the path

wherever it was taking me, the earth roots

beginning to stir.

I didn’t intend to start thinking about God,

it just happened.

How God, or the gods, are invisible,

quite understandable

But holiness is visible, entirely.

It’s wonderful to walk along like that,

though not the usual intention to reach an

answer

but merely drifting.

Like clouds that only seem weightless.

but of course are not.

Are really important.

I mean, terribly important.

Not decoration by any means.

By next week the violets will be blooming.

Anyway, this was my delicious walk in the rain.

What was it actually about?

Think about what it is that music is trying to say.

It was something like that.

Mary Oliver