Thought for the Week

Sunday 19 February 2012

Listening to the Beloved

In today's gospel reading Jesus leads three of his disciples up a mountain, where he is transfigured before them.  Jesus' clothes become dazzling white, and they see him talking to Moses and Elijah.   Bewildered by the event, Peter says 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.'

Peter's is an authentic human reaction.  Doing gives us a sense of control and purpose, and it can help us to understand and order unexpected events.  When our doing wells up as an expression of our prayerful, loving relationship with God, it does others, and ourselves, much good.  But it is easy to sleepwalk through a day propelled by a long 'to do' list, mistaking this bustle of activity for our response to the whisper of God.  We owe it to God, to others and ourselves, to realise when the impetus for our actions is not God but another force entirely, one that perhaps finds coping with mess, and the uncertainty provoked by dealing with other people, too difficult. 

After Peter has offered to act, a cloud envelops them all and a voice from the cloud exclaims, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!'  With Peter we are brought back to the first action that is required: listening.  True listening does demand action on our part, but it also requires us to be passive and humble.  It challenges us to accept that we do not have all the answers, nor might they come quickly or in the way we expect.  Sometimes we need trust and patience to stay with the ambiguity, in order to listen to what is being said in our lives for the benefit of others. 

Caroline Barnett