Three Mountain Men and Three from the Sea
Do you like to refresh in the mountains or at the beach? It is kind of a toss-up for me. In childhood, the family trips we sometimes took were either up to the White Mountains of Central Eastern Arizona or the Chiricahua’s or the Baja California shore to a spot the gringos called Rocky Point. Up in the pines fishing was magical, but so was scampering around exploring the sea life on the beaches or rocky shores in Mexico. Both venues still hold powers of refreshment for me.
These are the last days of the Season after the Epiphany for us who mark the year with a beautiful variety of the Liturgical Year spelling out all the themes of the Gospel. This Sunday is that last Sunday of the season of light, before Ash Wednesday launches our Lenten walk with Jesus, toward Holy Week, when we climb the hill of Calvary and absorb again the healing gift of life eternal he won for us there. The last Sunday before Lent is always the story of the Transfiguration of our Lord.
I have always thought about how on the mount of transfiguration, which tradition names to be Mount Tabor, there are six figures shown. Men of the sea, fishermen, Simon Peter, James, and John are there. Also, those whom I fashion to be mountain men are there. Jesus taught a sermon from up on a mountain and was crucified on the hill of the skull, Golgotha. In the Transfiguration experience, two other mountain men appear with Jesus. Moses received the commandments on tablets in a theophany on top of Mount Horeb, sometimes called Sinai. Elijah also appeared with Jesus on Tabor. He had more than one mountain top experience. One was a dramatic contest with the priests of the local god, Baal (1 Kings 18:20-35). On Mount Carmel, the fire of the Lord came down and consumed the sacrifice, revealing the truth of Yahweh’s reality and might. So the great seasonal story of light—the Transfiguration—features three mountain men and the three of the sea.
This week I hope to delve deeply into the themes of light leading us to our celebration on Sunday. For now, I leave you with this sonnet on Transfiguration and our openness to the resplendent light of God shining in our hearts:
Vision from the Heights
Where is the light that could show the way?
Something thick blocks us from knowing, somehow,
more than what’s around us right here and now.
Could the way forward be spelled out today?
Could the divider be thinned and reveal
heaven’s glory: transcendent truth and life?
Could mists lift, showing us worlds with no strife
giving hope and soothing how we think and feel?
Three men of the sea, Simon, John, and James
climb with their master up to Tabor’s peak
Not just the height made them feel awed and weak,
two appear, with him, light gleams beyond flames:
Prophets of Sanai and Carmel mountains
with him from whose hill springs healing fountains.
—DWP +, February 2021