One day, Peter, James and John were invited by their friend, Jesus, to go for a walk. They probably knew enough about the forefathers of their faith to know that if you were being invited into the mountain regions by somebody who is as close to the Lord as their teacher, Jesus, was, it wasn't for some mundane or mediocre purpose. But I'll bet they weren't expecting this to happen!

They were to be bystanders of one of the most glorious and mystifying occurences in his earthly life. The veil between past and future, heaven and earth, will part...for just a moment.

Mark 9:2-9
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.

At the moment of the outbreaking of Jesus' glorious being, time as we mortals know it parts. Jesus is in the company of Moses and Elijah, engaged in conversation. What do you think they were talking about? No surprise, the three mortal eavesdroppers are terrified. They recognize that they have been witness to a spectacular reunion of holy beings, but the moment they try to do something about it, it slips away. The first words out of Peter's impulsive mouth show that his immediate reaction was to pull himself together and do something.

In the befuddled words of Peter, and the silence of the others we see behavior typical of most folks when stunned by something extraordinary. It seems that we rarely see staying still, vulnerable and receptive to whatever happens next as our first choice. So, as in many other accounts of God's initiative to really get our attention, there was a cloud which overshadowed the scene (just as Moses and Mary were overshadowed when they were in the presence of a message from the divine). The mandate from the Lord is the crux of discipleship. It is so very simple...isn't it? The words reveal the who, the why, and the how about our relationship with God.

Who: Through Jesus, the son
Why: Because he is the Beloved of God
How: By listening

We never know when we will experience a mountain top experience of God's glorious inbreaking into our time and space. But they do happen in unpredictable ways. It can happen during Sunday worship.  It can happen when we are on retreat.  It can happen when we witness birth, or death, or fear, or delight. It happens, and we "see" something that reveals something glorious about this Jesus we profess to follow. He translates God's being, which spills beyond the container of any words we can process.

We are sent from those mountain top experiences with clear instructions. Even when you get a glimpse of God's glory, you know that the mountain top experience must necessarily pass, and you must return to the trench of everyday life and ministry in your own time and space. But before you do anything at all, LISTEN to Him. In ordinary moments--even as you wonder what to do today--that same glorious Christ provides counsel and divine wisdom.

May all of your listening moments be blessed!