A previous post
on the Transfiguration here, and a post when this Gospel was part of Lent 2012 from here.
Fine reflection on the Gospel of
the Transfiguration from here.
REFLECTIONS
One of the phrases that particularly catches me today is this line from the Gospel:
"You will do well to be attentive to
this,
until the day dawns
and the morning star rises in your
hearts."
The transfiguration seems to be prefigured by the first reading's suggestions that dark nights of the soul are still necessary for dream visions.As this type of darkness and energy is associated more with the second half of life it is indicative of the movement we need to make in this phase of life to make space for transcendence to occur.
We need these as a way of stripping our jaded perceptions to clear space to rid us of our many projections and illusions and to allow contemplation, to see things as they really are.
"As the visions during the night continued, I saw:
One like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven"
One like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven"
These poems below by Goethe are wonderful gateways into the sense of what a new and purified awareness of Christs' motivation involves as we struggle to meet it in our lives.
But if we have experienced even a glimpse of the light of God's love, beauty. truth and goodness it is enough to "sweep us forward" and it is as if we are then "insane" to be returned to the source of this light.
The
Holy Longing
by
Goethe
Tell
a wise person, or else keep silent,
Because
the massman will mock it right away.
I
praise what is truly alive,
What
longs to be burned to death.
In
the calm water of love nights,
Where
you were begotten, where you have begotten,
A
strange feeling comes over you
When
you see the silent candle burning.
Now
you are no longer caught
In
the obsession with darkness,
And
a desire for higher lovemaking
Sweeps
you forward.
Distance
does not make you falter
Now,
arriving in magic, flying
And
finally insane for the light,
You
are the butterfly, and you are gone.
And
so long as you haven't experienced this:
To
die, and so to grow,
You
are only a troubled guest
On
the dark earth.
The
Moth
This is a great poem about the second half of life .
This is a great poem about the second half of life .
The whole point of Light
The
point along the way
That
guides the moth unto it's death --
And
life in Thee.
It's
wings are spread, it flutters by
In confusion
sweet
It turns
away in darkest fear
And turns
again in fright.
And so
without choice it seems
It is
drawn unto My Light
Ever
closer, ever still, the centre of the flame.
Then
all at once a sizzle and a snap
And low
--
The moth
is but part of the flame
That
liveth in it's heart.
Now it
flies in silent night
But --still
--within this world!
Human
Beings
To
Be or not to Be?
Therein
the answer lies
The
question is which?
You
choose!
But
in choosing, think of Being
Not
just human being!
Christ as Light
John Michael Talbot
Lyrics
Christ as a Light
llumine and guide me
Christ as a Shield
Overshadow me
Christ under me
Christ over me
Christ beside me
On my left
And my right
This day be with Him and without me
Lowly and meek
Yet all powerful
Be in the heart
Of each to whom I speak
In the mouth of each who speak unto me
This day be with Him and without me
Lowly and weak
Yet all powerful
Christ as a Light
Christ as a Shield
Christ beside me
On my left
And my right
As Morning Breaks
John Michael Talbot
Starry starry night by Van Gogh
Image source
Oscar Wilde' s recognition that "All of us are in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars " is truly one that befits the second half of life !
Image source
Open The Eyes of My Heart Lord
These two quotes from Anne Lamott depict well the oscillating movements many experience in our faith at different times.
from Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
But we can believe that the light of the Transfiguration and the Resurrection do meet us somewhere and sometimes, as Anne Lamott's quote here eloquently concludes:
"I do not understand the mystery of grace -- only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us."
We all need the light of God to transfigure and reinvigorate our everyday lives.
This great poem below by John O'Donohue shows how we are all artists of the everyday.
Imagination and the mind can be quickened through the unintended gaze of just being present to the awe and wonder of God's momentous love.
The eros of God cuts right through all the pains, the losses and the hurts and brings us to our true source.
As I move towards the second half of life I know that I am longing for that experience of God's condensed concentrated light " in a clean line of form ", so bright that when it appears it will reveal the whole truth and answer all my questions.
The second half of life is a time for the complexities and the struggles of the first half of life be simplified. It is time when as the poem says,
"It will call space to a different shape"
It reminds me too of this phrase from Galatians which speaks of how different eternal life will be:
Meanwhile there are occasional glimpses of what life is all about here.
There are moments of simplicity and transcendence and then we find ourselves at the bottom of the mountain again
but what is left is testament from those who have gone before to keep us in hope.
From the second reading:
"We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven
while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable."
"This song below, the Deer's Cry", attributed to St Patrick, is known by several names: "The Breastplate of St Patrick" and "Lorica" to mention two.
It is a beautiful prayer celebrating the awesome power of God who lives among us, guiding, sheltering and protecting, enfolding and strengthening us, even when we feel unable to see.
This is a God who is always with us, and in us, through the transfiguring power of His Resurrection and creation and the Holy Spirit.
This is the God who is still the morning star rising in our hearts.
This version is sung by Rita Connolly, and it was the communion song at Maeve Binchy's recent funeral.
I Arise Today
and when it all goes pear shaped, as life has a habit of frequently doing(!), remember :
God Is By My Side
Christ as Light
John Michael Talbot
Lyrics
Christ as a Light
llumine and guide me
Christ as a Shield
Overshadow me
Christ under me
Christ over me
Christ beside me
On my left
And my right
This day be with Him and without me
Lowly and meek
Yet all powerful
Be in the heart
Of each to whom I speak
In the mouth of each who speak unto me
This day be with Him and without me
Lowly and weak
Yet all powerful
Christ as a Light
Christ as a Shield
Christ beside me
On my left
And my right
As Morning Breaks
John Michael Talbot
Starry starry night by Van Gogh
Image source
Oscar Wilde' s recognition that "All of us are in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars " is truly one that befits the second half of life !
Image source
Click here for more explanation on these wonderful paintings by
Jyoti Sahi based on the gospel phrase
"You
will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark
place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts”
Open The Eyes of My Heart Lord
These two quotes from Anne Lamott depict well the oscillating movements many experience in our faith at different times.
“I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real
certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told
me--that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty
is missing the point entirely.
Faith includes noticing the mess, the
emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light
returns.”
from Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
But we can believe that the light of the Transfiguration and the Resurrection do meet us somewhere and sometimes, as Anne Lamott's quote here eloquently concludes:
"I do not understand the mystery of grace -- only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us."
This great poem below by John O'Donohue shows how we are all artists of the everyday.
Imagination and the mind can be quickened through the unintended gaze of just being present to the awe and wonder of God's momentous love.
The eros of God cuts right through all the pains, the losses and the hurts and brings us to our true source.
For the Artist at the Start
of Day
May morning be astir with
the harvest of night;
Your mind quickening to the eros of a new question,
Your eyes seduced by some unintended glimpse
That cut right through the surface to a source.
Your mind quickening to the eros of a new question,
Your eyes seduced by some unintended glimpse
That cut right through the surface to a source.
May this be a morning of
innocent beginning,
When the gift within you slips clear
Of the sticky web of the personal
With its hurt and its hauntings,
And fixed fortress corners,
When the gift within you slips clear
Of the sticky web of the personal
With its hurt and its hauntings,
And fixed fortress corners,
A Morning when you become a
pure vessel
For what wants to ascend from silence,
For what wants to ascend from silence,
May your imagination
know
The grace of perfect danger,
The grace of perfect danger,
To reach beyond
imitation,
And the wheel of repetition,
And the wheel of repetition,
Deep into the call of
all
The unfinished and unsolved
The unfinished and unsolved
Until the veil of the
unknown yields
And something original begins
To stir toward your senses
And grow stronger in your heart
And something original begins
To stir toward your senses
And grow stronger in your heart
In order to come to
birth
In a clean line of form,
That claims from time
A rhythm not yet heard,
That calls space to
A different shape.
In a clean line of form,
That claims from time
A rhythm not yet heard,
That calls space to
A different shape.
May it be its own force
field
And dwell uniquely
Between the heart and the light
And dwell uniquely
Between the heart and the light
To surprise the hungry
eye
By how deftly it fits
About its secret loss.
By how deftly it fits
About its secret loss.
John O'Donohue
As I move towards the second half of life I know that I am longing for that experience of God's condensed concentrated light " in a clean line of form ", so bright that when it appears it will reveal the whole truth and answer all my questions.
The second half of life is a time for the complexities and the struggles of the first half of life be simplified. It is time when as the poem says,
"It will call space to a different shape"
That claims from time
A rhythm not yet heard,
A rhythm not yet heard,
It reminds me too of this phrase from Galatians which speaks of how different eternal life will be:
"neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we will all be one in Christ Jesus."
Meanwhile there are occasional glimpses of what life is all about here.
There are moments of simplicity and transcendence and then we find ourselves at the bottom of the mountain again
but what is left is testament from those who have gone before to keep us in hope.
From the second reading:
"We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven
while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable."
"This song below, the Deer's Cry", attributed to St Patrick, is known by several names: "The Breastplate of St Patrick" and "Lorica" to mention two.
It is a beautiful prayer celebrating the awesome power of God who lives among us, guiding, sheltering and protecting, enfolding and strengthening us, even when we feel unable to see.
This is a God who is always with us, and in us, through the transfiguring power of His Resurrection and creation and the Holy Spirit.
This is the God who is still the morning star rising in our hearts.
This version is sung by Rita Connolly, and it was the communion song at Maeve Binchy's recent funeral.
I Arise Today
I arise today through the strength of heaven
Light of sun, radiance of moon
Splendour of fire, speed of lightning
Swiftness of wind, depth of the sea
Stability of earth, firmness of rock
I arise today through God's strength to pilot me
God's eye to look before me
God's wisdom to guide me
God's way to lie before me
God's shield to protect me
From all who shall wish me ill
Afar and a-near
Alone and in a multitude
Against every cruel, merciless power
That may oppose my body and soul
Christ with me,
Christ before me
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down
Christ when I arise,
Christ to shield me
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me
I arise today
and when it all goes pear shaped, as life has a habit of frequently doing(!), remember :
God Is By My Side
Without Seeing You
1 comment:
What a beautiful beautiful post, Phil. I love your reflections, the poems and texts and videos you have chosen. All this feeds me and brings me closer to the One I am longing to meet. Thank you!
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