Church of the Transfiguration, Photo taken on 1987 trip This mountaintop experience in these Bible verses is known as the transfiguration ~ all that means is a complete change of appearance into something more beautiful. Best symbolized as the caterpillar into a butterfly. Transfigured. Changed.
When I think of the transfiguration, I think of my 1987 trip to Israel. I was not feeling well that day sick to my stomach. The road to the top zigs and zags for several miles. It’s too narrow and windy for the tour buses. Buses stop at the bottom and tourists pile into cabs going up and down. Since I was not feeling well, my fellow tourists had me sit in the front seat. Uh, oh. The driver was smoking a foot long cigar. That did not help my stomache. It was hot. We piled in the cab and the cabbie stepped on the gas. Off we went like a rocket in a race because the more times the cabbie could get up and down the more money they made! No speed limit. The speed, the cigar smoke, the heat. I thought to myself, “I don’t know if I am going to make this through alive,” but the rule follower that I am I thought “at least if we miss a turn and go hurling down the side of the mountain, I am going to be wearing my seat belt.” So I reach over to buckle up. As I try to click the seat belt to make me secure, turns out the cabbie is watching me. He puts his big old hand over the buckle and refused to let me buckle in. Great. I offended the cabbie.
That was my introduction to the place of the revelation of the glory of Jesus Christ ~ feeling sick to my stomach on a hot dusty day riding with a cigar smoking cabbie racing at top speed that would not even let me put on my seat belt. When I got my feet on solid ground at the top, I was in no mood to try and comprehend the glorious radiance of Jesus Christ, the dazzling companions of Moses and Elijah, the heavenly glimpse of heaven. All I wanted to do was ___________ (never mind).
When I think of the transfiguration, I think of my 1987 trip to Israel. I was not feeling well that day sick to my stomach. The road to the top zigs and zags for several miles. It’s too narrow and windy for the tour buses. Buses stop at the bottom and tourists pile into cabs going up and down. Since I was not feeling well, my fellow tourists had me sit in the front seat. Uh, oh. The driver was smoking a foot long cigar. That did not help my stomache. It was hot. We piled in the cab and the cabbie stepped on the gas. Off we went like a rocket in a race because the more times the cabbie could get up and down the more money they made! No speed limit. The speed, the cigar smoke, the heat. I thought to myself, “I don’t know if I am going to make this through alive,” but the rule follower that I am I thought “at least if we miss a turn and go hurling down the side of the mountain, I am going to be wearing my seat belt.” So I reach over to buckle up. As I try to click the seat belt to make me secure, turns out the cabbie is watching me. He puts his big old hand over the buckle and refused to let me buckle in. Great. I offended the cabbie.
That was my introduction to the place of the revelation of the glory of Jesus Christ ~ feeling sick to my stomach on a hot dusty day riding with a cigar smoking cabbie racing at top speed that would not even let me put on my seat belt. When I got my feet on solid ground at the top, I was in no mood to try and comprehend the glorious radiance of Jesus Christ, the dazzling companions of Moses and Elijah, the heavenly glimpse of heaven. All I wanted to do was ___________ (never mind).
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