Hi everyone,
Have you ever felt awestruck? It doesn’t seem to happen to me very often, but when I am, I find myself at a complete loss of words. An example of this lately has been watching my wife work. She makes those custom cakes (from scratch) with all these decorations and so on and so forth. But the amount of creativity and artistry that goes into one of those cakes really has me awestruck.
Sure, it is very time consuming, it pays pretty little per hour, and there are cake things all over the house, but lately I had the opportunity to help with some of the process in the design and light engineering of it all. And I have to say, it’s fascinating. I wouldn’t have thought that it would be so involved. While I’d never do it myself (I don’t think), I think it is absolutely amazing to watch a lump of sugar, food colouring, and some other ingredients turn into something so beautiful.
But what makes it more amazing is the love that goes into each one. It takes time, dedication, and passion, and seeing the cakes puts my wife in a different light for me. And while I didn’t marry her because she can make these cakes (she didn’t even make them back then), I am reminded of why I did when I look at them.
Ok, that wasn’t supposed to be a shameless plug for what she does, but you can check out her work at the link at the bottom of this page. Oh and I also wanted to highlight our reaction to things that amaze us.
Here are the readings for next Sunday:
Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2
Luke 9:28-36
This upcoming Sunday we commemorate the Transfiguration, this weird event in the life of Jesus. I say “weird” because we don’t really understand it, and looking at the other texts assigned for the day, it is like no one really does. Moses was transfigured sort of as well, and he put a veil over his face. Paul called Moses’ veil a sort of lack of boldness. And Peter just wanted to make huts. So what is the deal here?
Well, I don’t claim to know more than these bible greats, but it seems to me that the whole episode (both for Moses and Jesus) was something awesome. Not in a modern vernacular kind of awesome (as in just slightly better than status quo), but actual awe-striking awesomeness. Something that we can’t take our eyes off of because it is so amazing. Something that leaves us speechless both because we simply cannot find the words to describe it and because our jaws are hanging so wide open that we aren’t able to say anything even if we did have the words.
This I think is the focus of Transfiguration Sunday. Not the ins and outs of a physical body turning into light. Not the whys and hows of who was present there with Jesus. Not even the ramifications of why Peter would even suggest making some huts. But the awesome greatness of God. The amazing experience of seeing Jesus in his glory. The awe-striking divine love that is graciously shown to us, not because of who we are, but because of whose we are and who we are made to be.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!
Photo by totes_shakes on Instagram