Transformed by the Brilliance of God
Second Sunday of Lent
Genesis 22:1–2, 9a, 10–13, 15–18 / Psalm 116:9 / Romans 8:31b–34 / Mark 9:2–10
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Reflecting on the Word
By Dr. Karla J. Bellinger
I was shoveling the driveway. It was negative two degrees. The snow was deep. The sky was blue. The late February sun was strong. Sparkles of brilliant white glistened in the snow where the sun shone upon it. It was cold. It was very bright. I felt my eyes flooded with light.
As I tossed that white stuff onto the snowbank, I thought about the Transfiguration: Jesus bathed in light with a face shining like the sun, his clothes dazzlingly white. Maybe it was the brilliance of the snow or the brightness of the sun; maybe it was the contrast with so many drab and dreary months of winter gray; I don’t know which it was, but that image of “dazzling” grabbed hold of me. Dazzling—
God is dazzling!
I wonder, what did it feel like for Peter and James and John to be so dazzled by Jesus at the Transfiguration that Matthew, Mark, and Luke—all of the synoptic Gospels—tell this story?
What does it feel like to be dazzled? Other than snow in the sunshine, what kinds of dazzling brightness do we experience? I think of the shimmer of sunshine dancing on water . . . a mountaintop glowing with the pink and gold of a sunset . . . the twinkle of dew sparkling on spider webs in the morning sun. Moments of beauty flash into my mind. Tastes of God’s radiance shine through the created world.
The light of God enfolds us with the warmth of being beloved. As Isaac was beloved, as Jesus was the Beloved, so we too are beloved. To be beloved is dazzling. Radiant brilliance seeps into us.
Consider/Discuss
- How about you? Have you seen the snow sparkle, the sun shine on the water, or the gold of the sunset? If not while shoveling snow, when and where have you been dazzled by light . . . astounded . . . awed . . . ?
- If we want to experience God, how do we do that? This Lent, center yourself in the Holy Spirit and take little sips of belovedness. Ponder the dazzling brightness of God. For ten seconds, let your ribcage swell with the joy of Jesus; for twenty seconds, savor a child-like wonder; for thirty seconds, glory in the created world that you see in front of you. You are wanted, cherished, cared for: that is belovedness. That is prayer. In small sips, dwell, abide, and remain in the dazzling light of God.
Living and Praying with the Word
Jesus, there is much that we don’t know about your transfiguration. Maybe you were always dazzling when you walked on this earth and the Transfiguration was the only time the apostles saw it. As children of light, we are surrounded by an ocean of your divine light. Wherever we are, wherever we go, the Holy Spirit seeks to reveal beauty and goodness and dazzling Presence to us. You know our blindness. Show us your reality, Lord, and let us not shy away from being dazzled by you.