As we end this season of Epiphany we are back on the mountaintop with Jesus and the disciples. We hear of how Jesus was transformed into light, like Moses was when he went up the mountain. He is visited by Moses and Elijah while he is there and Peter can't help himself, he speaks into this holy time.
In Exodus we receive the story of Moses and the burning bush. In order to enter the ground he is told to take off his sandals because it is holy ground. It is like this in today's story and the thing is we always have to fill holy places with sound. Think about it who is comfortable with silence? Who can stand to be quiet for more than a few seconds and not fill the silence with talk? The only voice we should've heard from is God's and then a quiet.
Quiet is how Elijah encounters God on the hilltop. He asks to see God and all these spectacular events happen there. An earthquake, but God is not there; a fire, but God is not there; God is only in the stillness which comes after all of these earth shattering events.
One commentator said it like this today. We have a bookend in Epiphany of the Magi following the star and we end with this light on the mountain. When we have climbed a mountain and we are at the top do we speak or do we stare out and see all that we have climbed and accomplished?
This is how we should be ending today. In stillness. A stillness to see where we have been this Epiphany season in our spiritual life. A stillness which looks over what has been good for us and what we need to prune off or get rid of because it doesn't serve us well. A stillness in which we might encounter the holy and seek God's voice, the still small voice, which tells us the good news of comfort, or joy, or love, or I am with you. We need these places of stillness to grow.
Think of the garden. Being out in the sun and listening. Listening to the water, the air in the trees, the soft gentle touch of the wings surrounding us and enfolding us into a presence.
There is so much to be invited to in silence. Take the time to go today into the silence. Let it bless and fill you. Let go and let the deepness enfold you into quiet and peace. Amen.
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