Ash Wednesday is February 18. This is the day that marks the beginning of our Lenten journey. Ash Wednesday invites introspection and reflection. It’s a time in the Christian calendar when we can pause and consider our mortality. It’s also an invitation to embark on spiritual renewal. During our Ash Wednesday service (6pm on February 18), we will offer the imposition of ashes. This symbolizes repentance and the need to be penitent for everything we do that falls short of God’s perfection.
Before we begin our Lenten Journey, we have one final liturgical stop. This Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday. In Matthew 17.1-9, Peter, James, and John went up a mountain with Jesus. According to the gospel account, something changed. Jesus’ appearance changed. His face started to shine. His clothes became dazzling white. The adjective used in the Greek is foce, and it mean “luminous.”
What happened on that mountain? If we try to imagine a biblical timeline, the Transfiguration event would have happened around year 33 CE. The Gospel of Matthew was compiled and written between 80-90 CE. It could have been such a profound experience that they began telling everyone about it soon after Jesus’ resurrection. Communities of Christ-followers repeated this story over the years. I picture people hearing it and trying to envision the experience. I imagine Peter, James, and John having to tell the story over and over again. I wonder if they ever grew tired of repeating it. Or, did it take them back to that mountain every time they told it?
Before we begin our Lenten journey, we can go to the mountaintop with Peter, James, John, and Jesus. What does it mean to us? How do we picture Jesus? What does it say to us about him to see him transfigured? What, in that moment, do we say? Are we like Peter? Do we struggle for the words? Are we dumbstruck like James and John? Do we have something different?
In life, it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves. That’s a constant temptation. Instead, enjoy the journey. Lean into each stop along the way. Whatever this season brings, give thanks for it. Let it teach you and speak something new to your soul.