Geoff Stevenson

I remember, some years ago now, when my kids were in Infants School and I attended the annual Presentation Day. It used to be held in the main playground at the local public school. There were rows of those small aluminium benches that the children sit on for lunch. Many parents were sitting there whilst others were standing at the back. Special Guests were at the front of these small benches and all looked wonderfully uncomfortable. The children performed various dances and songs that generally pertained to the Christmas Season and there were prizes for class achievement.

The thing that struck me most on these interesting occasions was that there were more cameras and video cameras than a tourist bus! I was shocked after the proceedings began and the speeches were over. As children came forward to dance and sing, various parents pushed through the crowd of other parents and younger siblings to get as close to the front as possible. I couldn’t understand why until I saw one particular parent with a video camera to beat all video cameras. It was huge! It sat on his shoulder and had a huge microphone attached above it. There was a giant battery pack hanging off his belt. He was holding the camera on one shoulder and pushing people out of his way with the other. He got to the front and stood videotaping his precious, budding actor/actress, capturing their no doubt, priceless performance. I noticed that there were many others staring into the screens of their video cameras. They zoomed in and out, scanned across the children until they settled on their own precious star of the show, and maybe their best friends as well. Flashes flickered, cameras whirred, zooms zoomed and the whole prestigious event was captured in several hundred different ways.

I wonder how many have since looked at their videos or photos of these wondrous events? I wonder how many actually went home and watched, again, the thrilling performances? I enjoyed watching my children do their thing and I enjoyed all the other children participating as well. The events were important for the children and their significance was about bringing people together to celebrate and give the kids a chance to do something before their parents. It was something to watch and experience. I wonder how many camera clickers and videographers actually experienced anything?!!

Quite honestly, the performances were not memorable; they weren’t meant to be. I don’t think back on the brilliant performance of mine or other children. I remember the cuteness of kids doing their thing. They learned new things each year and had fun performing before their parents. It was the sense of fun in their eyes. It was the shyness and gaffs, that produced knowing laughter – we’ve all been there! It was enjoying this experience with other parents and children, with teachers and community representatives that was important. Sadly, many walked away with this experience on disk, but not in their hearts. They recorded everything but experienced nothing. They may have looked at this video later but would there have been the communal experience, the atmosphere, the laughter, the sharing of something bigger than the ordinary year-in, year-out Presentation Day performances?

I thought of this when I read this week’s passage from Mark 9:2-9. It is known as the Transfiguration of Jesus, a name that relates to the experience of Jesus in the story where the glory of God is revealed in him and he ’shines’. There is a profound experience for three disciples who had accompanied Jesus up the mountain. They see a vision of Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah (who represent the Law and the Prophets of the Jewish faith). Peter offers to build tents or shelters on the mountain so that the experience can continue on and on. Peter wants to hold onto what is before him. He wants to grasp the events before him and not let go. He wants to hang on but he can’t. This is not something that one can hold and never have it disappear. It is an experience you have. It must get into your being and change you.

This was an experience of God’s glory and transcendence. It was filled with awe and wonder. It was something to experience, rather than own, contain or control. Such an experience of God is one that must enter your being and transform you in mind, body and/or spirit. It is something that becomes part of who you are and drives you on to become who you can be before God. It can never be contained and any attempt to hold it misses the point and the experience.

I remember sacred moments of life when I was filled with awe and wonder, such as the birth of our children. These moments are profound but any attempt to contain them usually means missing the experience to do so. Photos, at some stage, are important and help to relive the experience to some degree. If we haven’t had the experience, though, no number of photos can give it back! If I spend my energy in capturing the moment, rather then experiencing the moment, it will never be the same. A beautiful photo or a wonderful video will never capture a moment as fully as living the experience.

In so many ways, we fail to experience the moment of God because we are consumed with capturing something of it for prosperity. Our capturing of this Divine moment (or any other for that matter!) comes in a variety of forms. Sometimes we philosophise about the potential of the moment. Sometimes we try to break an experience down and define what it really is or means. Sometimes we try to hard to hang onto a moment. We are more consumed with how to grasp every dimension of it, than in experiencing the moment. It then becomes a little like a vicarious experience – someone else’s slides of their trip or reading a story about such an experience.

In our story, Jesus invites these three disciples into a profound and wonder-filled moment. It is a moment filled with the glorious wonder of God. It draws the disciples into a profound and life-changing moment. It points them to something that will be and reveals a deeper sense of who Jesus is. It is a wondrous moment that cannot continue forever. It is a foretaste of another realm, another dimension, a vision of the glorious Kingdom of God. Experience it. Be transformed and live into this new reality that has been revealed!

There are many such moments of awe, wonder and glory in our lives. Are we open to experiencing them or do we miss them. It is more important to experience the moment of God than to define it or hold it. It is a moment of grace that transforms us!