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Transfigurations
Sermon by Rosemary M. Lawson
for Sunday, February 26, 2006
This is Transfiguration Sunday. Our bible readings for the day describe two events when mortals faced the transfiguration, or loss, of their beloved teachers. First we learn that Elisha tried to keep Elijah in sight, in the hopes of preventing losing him, or if not that, at least the hopes of receiving a blessing and spiritual inheritance from him. Despite the fact that he succeeded in this latter attempt, he was so grief-struck that he tore his garments in two. This in a day when every garment was woven and stitched by hand.
Then Mark tells us of an event when Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountain-top. Jesus totally changed in his appearance right before their eyes. In addition, two of the prophets, Moses and Elijah, were seen, standing next to Jesus. The disciples were terrified seeing Jesus transformed and seeing the prophets with him. Then a voice from the clouds announced Jesus as God’s son. The disciples are terrified by these events.
One conclusion you could draw from these passages is that we humans are ill-equipped to deal with wondrous things. Elisha’s tack was to keep track of Elijah by keeping him in sight, as if that would prevent Elijah from being swept up in the whirlwind. And the disciples, in their terror, offered to build dwellings for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.
Apparently it takes somebody with the fortitude of Swedenborg to know what to do when faced with a mystical experience: capture the details, and write them down!
When I first started reading Swedenborg, I was not expecting to find anything in his books that would help me understand the mystical experiences I have had. But I was wrong and I find Swedenborg’s descriptions of who we are once we pass to the spiritual world riveting. Perhaps Transfiguration Sunday is a good time to think about these things, as it both holds the memory of Jesus’ transfiguration and implies the promise for regenerated life for us all.
I had a vision that speaks to this:
My husband Tom visited me after he died. I had been grieving deeply. I had managed to return to my teaching job, but any time alone was hard and nighttimes were the worst. Mostly I made it through by praying for Tom, and for all of us who he left behind, until I fell asleep. Then the night came that Tom visited. It is still totally clear, 20-some years later, without reference to my dream journal.
I dreamed he was at my house with his father and me. All three of us knew that he was dead, but he was there, and that was unsurprising and fine. The three of us were “putting my house in order.” Even in my dream, I smiled at the pun of these two men helping me house-clean, while we all understood the deeper significance of the words and of the act. Tom was just there with me, wearing his favorite jeans and chambray shirt and boat shoes! He was at home: comfortable and un-self-conscious… as if the separation of his illness, death, and the intervening months had not happened at all.
Tom and I did not need to talk. We communicated without it; direct mind-to-mind communication that came as naturally as if we had been doing it forever. I was struck with wonderment. I wondered how he was, and immediately knew the answer - he was perfect. He was not just “well” or “fine” or “no pain” -he was of essence, perfect.
He was also the handsome, vibrant Tom I had loved with and danced with and sailed with; not the pathetic shadow that the cancer reduced his body to at the end. After the horror of watching him die, seeing him well, strong, and full of life was amazing.
I stared at him in delight, drinking in his handsome face, strong young body, mischievously sparkling eyes. “What do you do all the time?” I wondered.
“Oh we’re busy! We study, go to classes, work on projects… we’re learning all the time! You’re going to love it, Rosey!”
Looking at him in wonder, I thought: “But I miss you so much!”
His immediate response: “You don’t have to! I am with you at any time you need me! I’m here all the time – I am right here with you!”
By seeing that he was so vibrant, so filled with joy and energy, it took away all my pain and fear, and left me light and glowing with joy. I wondered if we could touch. He smiled the famous Tom smile, and put his long arms around me as I stretched up to return his hug.
Then I just lay in bed luxuriating in the warmth of love returned, of love that transcended time and death, and of the feel of being held in love.
So returning from my joyous vision of my deceased husband, what do I have to learn from Transfiguration Sunday? I’ll let Swedenborg have the final word:
“When a person is being regenerated he becomes completely different from before and is made new…. At that point, a person’s face and speech remain the same, but not so his mind. Once a person is regenerated, his mind is open towards heaven; and love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor, together with faith, reside in it.” (Arcana Coelestia, 3471)
Copyright 2006 by Rosemary M. Lawson
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