Imaginative Contemplation with the Transfiguration

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A guided meditation with the transfiguration account in Matthew 17, Mark 9 and Luke 9.

Towards the pinnacle of his ministry, Jesus takes his closest friends up a very high mountain. Jesus seems to be considering his next steps, seeking wisdom about the way forward. He has climbed this peak to chew things over, to listen to God, to listen to his own faith tradition and spiritual heritage.

The question is Jesus’ departure “which he is about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem.” On the mountain top, deep in contemplation, Jesus has a tete-a-tete with Moses – the great figurehead of the deliverance, the exodus, the release from slavery, and Elijah – the prophet who was taken up to heaven rather than dying a natural death, and who was anticipated to come back and prepare the way for a Moses-like Messiah.**

Does he bring Peter, James and John along for their benefit or for his own? Does their company strengthen him, or is he offering them privileged access, to witness his own spiritual process?

Jesus, about to embark on the next significant expression of his calling, hears the same words he heard at his baptism “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

May you enter the story in your imagination, may the story become more vivid to you, and may it become yours in some way, as you humbly discern your own next steps into the Father’s heart of love.

**Thank you Sue Rebus for recently reminding me of all this. Sue and I have been teaching a course together this term called Taste and See. We approach each week with Sue’s insightful teaching followed by a contemplative session in the same text. There are a few places left in the next 6-week session beginning Friday 28 Jan at 9:45am. If you live locally, and are interested in finding out more, please do get in touch.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer – space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God’s love for you today – drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

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All music by Pete Hatch.