Being alone and being left alone may be one of our deepest fears. Yet here and elsewhere Jesus extends this invitation to be alone. Despite and perhaps because of our fears, something happens in this alone space. Solitude, even communal solitude, makes room to encounter God. We begin to see what was veiled before. We hear what our souls most long to hear. Sometimes we receive the faintest of glimpses of heaven made visible on earth.
Solitude enables us to pause with Jesus at the threshold of heaven and earth to hear the voice calling out to us from all eternity ~ you are my beloved ~ I love you dearly.
Mark 9:2-9 NLT
Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.
Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified.
Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.
As they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
For Reflection and Prayer:
Was there a word, phrase or image which caught your attention you as you listened to or slowly read the text? Allow those words to land softly in your heart.
Quietly reflect on what you heard in your prayer with Jesus. Journal your conversation.
What longing rose up in your heart as you listened. How are you feel this holy longing in your body? Gently bring this awareness into your prayer with Jesus.
Savor any consoling words or pictures as you quietly rest in God.
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