Letter from Lindy Feb 14

We turn the corner, after Transfiguration Sunday, to our Lenten Journey. (By the way, please sign up for your Lenten kit so you can share in our Ash Wednesday service :) I can’t tell you the number of calls I have been on this week where colleagues have noted the passage of an entire pandemic year because it was precisely amidst Lent that we moved from in-person to virtual. One pastor noted that they were “already” ready for Lent as they never took down the purple paraments from last year. We all chuckled, sadly and knowingly, because that small act of neglect spoke volumes about how we are feeling about being/doing church amidst. As we reflected on exactly when and how our communities came to our current lived reality, we may have transitioned differently, but every church we are connected to in Durham “learned how to fly while we were building the plane” as one of my colleagues remarked back then. Our question this week was how we were planning to mark or ritualize this anniversary.

I think the juxtaposition between being and doing is at the heart of our transfiguration story and also captures the essence of pandemic life. I’m not sure what the disciples thought would happen up that mountain, but this miraculous event throws them off. The more I read this story, the less I’m sure it has anything to do with the disciples or what they are supposed to do. This is a story about Jesus, and yet we can’t help but think it has to do with them (us) doing something.

This is why Peter’s response captivates me. He thinks it is time for him to do something. But what is he supposed to do? Well, any good servant makes the guests comfortable, right? It’s interesting that his idea of making Jesus and the two apparitions comfortable means for Peter trying to make that comfort permanent by building something—a dwelling place that will draw honor to time and place. In a moment of incredible being, Peter is looking at doing.

The Transfiguration is also something for this pandemic moment. A story about being, listening, and heeding the teachings of Jesus while distracted by something way bigger than us. A story that reveals our desire to act, to do rather than be--when doing might be premature and misguided. Not in all things, but in this thing. In a moment of God’s power: in transfiguration, change, and divine action, the disciples are invited to listen and heed.
I don’t know about you, but these days, it seems like we keep asking each other “what is the right thing to do?” And we keep trying to solve “the problem.” Perhaps fixing it and seeking comfort is actually well-intentioned avoidance. Perhaps the point is to live through this moment. To keep listening, watching, and following. So we can experience it, be in it, and learn from it.

See you Sunday,
Pastor Lindy