Down the Mountain

This reflection on the Transfiguration from Matthew 17:1-9 challenges our instinct to memorialize and preserve extraordinary spiritual moments rather than live them out. When Peter witnessed Jesus radiating with glory alongside Moses and Elijah, his immediate response was to build tents, to capture and hold onto that mountaintop experience. We do the same today, constantly documenting moments, trying to make the extraordinary last. But God interrupts with a simple command: Listen to Him. The message reminds us that belovedness isn't something we achieve by transcending our humanity or curating perfect moments. God declares us beloved precisely within our limitations, our mortality, our messy embodiment. The transfiguration doesn't offer escape from the valley work of ordinary days, but courage for it. We're called not to build monuments to spiritual highs, but to descend back into real life where justice, mercy, and love require our presence. As we enter the Lenten season, this teaching invites us to walk into vulnerability rather than away from it, embracing the truth that God meets us not on the mountaintop, but in the valley where connection, forgiveness, and service happen.