Visions are common forms of spiritual experience today and in biblical times. In Sunday’s first reading from Genesis 15, Abram falls into a trance. He is wrestling with God’s promise that he and his wife, Sarai, will have many descendants. Should he believe the promise and keep faith with God?
Abram readies a sacrifice of birds and animals for the ritual of sealing a covenant with God. Then, “a deep terrifying darkness enveloped him.” Abram sees a flaming torch pass between the halves of the sacrificed animals and recognizes God is affirming the covenant and promise. Read this story in Genesis 15.5-18
In Sunday’s gospel Jesus goes up a mountain to pray. What will happen when he goes to Jerusalem where religious leaders oppose him? In his prayer he talks with two earlier leaders in Israel’s history, Moses and Elijah, both of whom risked their lives to do God’s work. This gospel vision shows Jesus wrestling in prayer with his mission and its consequences.
We humans have the capacities to remember, know, and transcend ourselves. We can open up to God, the ultimate Being beyond us. To help us, we each have our own histories stored in our memories. We also have our traditions about Jesus and the God of Israel.
The transfiguration gospel offers a model for how to pray and envision God’s purpose for us. One of the valuable uses of scripture is for prayer and contemplation. In this gospel Jesus holds an inner conversation with two people from his own religious tradition about a turning point in his life — his decision to go up to Jerusalem. The first two meditations below also appear in Alive in God, page 45.