Written by clergy and lay people across our Diocesan community, ‘Sunday Devotions’ is a column of short reflections based on a Lectionary reading of the day, suitable for small group discussion or personal use.
Main readings: Exodus 24.12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1.16-21; Matthew 17.1-9
Supplementary readings: Psalm 72.1-11; John 12.20-32; Habakkuk 3.3-19; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3.12-4.2
“You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1.19)
I was afraid of the dark as a child. There were monsters that disturbed my sleep and made my heart race with fear. I would hide under the covers in the hope that in the darkness the monsters would not see me, instead passing me by.
There are times, even as adults, when we are afraid of the dark. Our minds have the capacity to create horrible possibilities or ‘monsters’ which disturb our sleeping and make our hearts race with fear. We curl up and make ourselves as small as possible. So, we become reliant on the light of our own making to drive away the ‘monsters’. But, with the dawn comes the beginning of a real light – a true light. In the transfiguration, Jesus reveals the light which permanently drives out all evil and the possibility of evil.
In Christ’s light we need never be afraid. When we are in Christ, the morning star is constantly rising within us. We do not need a light that we make for ourselves because we have the transfiguring light of Christ.
In his light, we do not need to fear the imagined or real horrors of this earth-bound life.
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