Category Archives: Meditations

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Dazzled by Jesus: a reflection through the eyes of Peter

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Read: Luke 9:28-36

I saw Jesus. I knew it was him, but he looked different: his face a ball of white light, his clothes so dazzlingly white that it hurt my eyes to look at them and I shielded them with my arm (dreams can seem so real sometimes).

Then I saw the other figures, two of them, and they were talking to him. It seems strange, but I knew straight away who they were: Moses and Elijah. They were all in white, all three of them enveloped in this amazing light, brighter than the sun.

And they were talking with Jesus, like they knew him already, like it was something they did everyday. But it was more than that: Jesus was at the centre of the three; he was the greatest of them. I thought a lot about that later: imagine it, the Jesus we’d walked with, eaten with, spent so much time with: greater than the greatest of our prophets.

And suddenly I realized I wasn’t dreaming, that this was real. It felt like somehow I’d slipped into another world. And I was terrified. Typically for me, I started gabbling, blurting out anything that came into my head, trying to make the situation seem normal: some nonsense about building shelters for them, James told me afterwards.

Then it got scarier: we were caught up in the cloud, James and John and I. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I thought it was going to burst and I was quaking all over. If I was going to die, to be struck down because I was unworthy to be in the presence of God himself, I wanted it to happen quickly. And painlessly.

Instead we heard a voice: it seemed all around us, loud and booming, yet it also spoke quietly as a whisper into our ears: ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.’ I fell at Jesus’ feet and when I got up, the cloud had gone and we were alone with him.

He didn’t give us any explanation: just told us not to say anything to the others, to anyone, until he was raised from the dead. We didn’t understand what he meant then – it only made sense a long time afterwards.

James, John and I didn’t talk about it much among ourselves. I think we were all trying to work out what it meant, but we couldn’t quite get there. I only knew that I’d had my confirmation: this man Jesus, my friend and teacher, he was the Christ, the Son of God: he’d come at last!

Follow Up: How do you see Jesus today?

Today’s thought for the day is also available in Worshipping Together, a monthly worship at home resource.

Worshipping Together
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Faith in the fog

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Faith in the Fog
I drew away this morning, thinking I was going to a quiet place.
When I got there I could see only a few metres, the wind was howling, the rain soaking in.
Where was God in all this?

Then I realised. My life is a bit like that at the moment. I can’t see where I’m going.
This blowing at me from all directions.
Yet I hear the Lord say ‘have faith in the fog’.

So I will. I will have faith in you Lord. I believe.
I believe you will provide for me. I believe you have a plan for me.
I believe you hold my life in your hands.

So I stand in the cold.
The wet, the wind, the fog and say here I am. I am listening.
I will have faith in the fog.

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Frost

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Frost.
Winter’s paint brush.
Earth’s Creator, Maker, Artist,
Displaying their skills,
As the familiar colours of our environment,
Are covered in hews of white.

The world, this place we inhabit,
looks different,
for now.

Windows are patterned with natural beauty,
As fingers of ice reach out to one another,
Swirling into into a masterpiece that will not last till lunchtime.

Earth’s Artist,
Offering a unique work of art
that is for our eyes this day, this moment.

The white frost captivates us,
We are made to notice the beauty of the simple things,
The things we too easily take for granted.

Cobwebs, frozen into lines of white.
Leaves, tinged with flecks of ice.
Grass, sprinkled with silver as sunbeams turn dawn to day.

Earth’s Creator,
Calls for our attention.
Saying “see, I made this. It is good.”

So we slow our pace,
Step onto the grass,
And hear the crunch underfoot,
With each stride we take.

Icy paths slow our footsteps
Make us pause,
take our time,
to enjoy the moment we have,
In this glistening white wonderland.

Earth’s Maker,
Saying slow down,
be still for a while,
rest in this moment.

We breathe out,
And as the warmth of our breath touches the icy winter air,
Our breath becomes obvious to us.
Visible proof that there is life within us.

Earth’s Creator, Maker, Artist,
Saying the beauty I breathe throughout this world,
I also breathe in you.

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