Finding God

Today's readings: Genesis 22, 1-2.9-13.15-18; Romans 8, 31-34; Mark 9, 2-10.

The two readings from Genesis and Mark's Gospel provide a welcome opportunity to explore different ways of God's manifestation. The transfiguration account has powerful symbolism which speaks for itself, whereas the Old Testament story of Abraham's journey to a place to sacrifice Isaac is terribly testing even for us bystanders.

The mountain of transfiguration follows the desert of temptation, inviting us to explore the desert and mountain experiences in life. The transfiguration undoubtedly provides a preview of the glory of the risen Jesus. This is something we all long for, given that, like the disciples themselves, in the desert of our life we continue to discuss what 'rising from the dead' could effectively mean.

The manifestation on the mountain of who Jesus really is occurs practically when he starts his way to Jerusalem where eventually he is to suffer and die. Only Peter, James and John witness Christ's 'epiphany'. Just before going up the mountain with these three disciples, Jesus had asked his disciples who the people thought he was. Then he asked them a very direct question: "Who do you say that I am?"

The public was unconvinced about Jesus's identity. And when Jesus spoke to his disciples about his impending Passion, they all panicked, Peter first and foremost. Perhaps this explains why Jesus, coming down from the mountain, "warned them to tell no one what they had seen". It is significant that the same three disciples were also witness to Jesus's anxiety and fear in the garden of Gethsemane as he faced the hour of death.

The transfiguration account represents basic moments that alternate in our life: the uphill journey, which stands for the struggle of our restless heart; the revelation on the mountain, which represents our lightning experiences of God's presence, which many times resembles a hide-and-seek game; and the descent from the mountain, which means we need to keep our feet on the ground when facing daily realities.

Jesus cannot just be the projection of our desires. We cannot just imagine God or build Him for ourselves. He is Jesus Christ as recorded in the Scriptures. The appearance on the mountain of Elijah and Moses and the voice from the cloud indicate all this. That is the meaning of the words "Listen to him".

Faith comes from hearing. It is not a feel-good sensation, as Peter was carried away to think in the midst of the extraordinary manifestation. There are times in life when lights are out, when we lack sure points of reference in our believing, when the impossible and the unexpected is demanded from us. Returning to the Genesis story in the first reading, we ask ourselves what sense it makes to think that God put Abraham to the test.

Abraham's journey is the centerpiece of Soren Kierkegaard's book Fear and Trembling. For Kierkegaard, Abraham is a great man because of what he suffers, mainly because alone he must make a choice "on the strength of the absurd". As believers, we all, at some time or other, experience the absurd. There is so much in what we say we believe in that just sounds absurd for modern-day culture.

But, as Kierkegaard points out, faith is something one needs in order to renounce everything, not something that it presupposes that one has renounced everything. Actually, it is not God who puts us to the test. Rather, life is tested by nature, and God is just there to enlighten our paths, to lighten our burden, to accompany us even when we falter.

Christianity is about finding God in strange places. Mount Tabor stands for God's eloquent manifestation. But the land of Moriah, a terribly strange place indeed where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son, provides important clues for those who are pilgrims in the land of the Spirit.