Dear Reader:

I took this picture when Jackson, Brooke, and I visited Honey and Mike in the mountains last October…fog was descending on “Honey’s” mountain on this late fall afternoon ….it was so beautiful it took my breath away.

I imagine Peter, James, and John felt the same way when they followed Jesus up a mountain and then suddenly saw him transfigured…with this amazing light, not only surrounding him, but pouring through him…and not just him… but also the prophet Elijah and Moses, himself.

The scripture reads: (Matthew 7: 1-8)

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

“Listen to him.” That is the commandment God has given us…sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it…all we have to do is stop and listen to Jesus, the Son of God…the light on top of the mountain. Don’t we all wish it were so?

I read through several different interpretations from Biblical scholars on the symbolism and meaning of this strange journey to the top of a mountain where suddenly the ancient prophet, Elijah appears and then Moses, all the while a strange but powerful light transfigures the whole scene.

My favorite part of this whole story is God’s proud announcement of His Son’s sacred heritage….“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Even now, with both my parents gone…the greatest Valentines gift I could get would be their approval…that they were “pleased with me.” Since I never knew my father…and have no memories of approval or disapproval from him at such a young age…I only have memories of mother and she did give me the approval I needed, the love I needed, to be successful in life.

I always dreaded the day when I would enter the Presbyterian Village (Home, then) and mother wouldn’t recognize me. It never happened…sometimes she couldn’t recall my name…but I knew it was I whom she was waiting on each afternoon in the wheelchair…by the light in her eyes when I appeared.

At first the light in the apostles’ eyes were probably filled with fear and also confusion…when they blinked and looked again…and Jesus was now standing alone…minus Elijah and Moses.

Of all the different interpretations of this event called “The Mountain of Transfiguration” ….one stood out for me.

Before Jesus….Elijah told of one to come, Moses symbolized the Laws and Commandments needed to guide the righteous. With the coming of God’s Son, however, things had changed. From this point on…Grace…has arrived and nothing would ever be the same again. Amen. What a gift Jesus brought man!

I know I have told this anecdote several times…but I never forget it. The story goes that the great thinker/theologian, C.S. Lewis went into a library to get a book and overheard a heated discussion among some of the most influential theologians of the time. What made Christianity different from other world religions? They shared many similarities…

C.S. Lewis grabbed his library book….but paused beside the discussion table on his way out…and said simply, quietly, humbly….”Grace.” He left the library and a stunned silence followed.

We are the only religion, or relationship with Christ, that can say this…the idea that we can be forgiven of all our sins and loved unconditionally…is found nowhere else.

I found this story on sermons.com and loved the metaphor between it and the Mountain of Transfiguration.

Before he was a NASA astronaut and commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight, the one that never landed on the moon but miraculously made it back to earth, Jim Lovell had already experienced being “lost in space.” As a Navy pilot out on a routine nighttime flight, his aircraft suddenly lost all of its navigational systems. Miles away from his ship with nothing to guide him back to the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La, Lovell decided to go completely dark. He turned off all of his cockpit lights and peered out in the utter blackness of the sea.

Soon he spotted a wrinkle of glowing water. The “glow” was created by the churning of the sea in the wake of the huge carrier. Tiny bioluminescent sea creatures — jelly fish, crustaceans, shrimp, even worms — that had been frothed to the surface of the sea glowed and gleamed a clear path through the dark waters directly towards the ship Shangri-La. Lovell, like Hansel and Gretel following breadcrumbs, simply followed that radiant glow until he found his ship and a safe landing.

………………………….

So Happy Valentines Day…and until tomorrow may the “grace” of God (the most wonderful gift of all) be with you throughout your life journey!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I bravely went to get my taxes prepared yesterday on a Friday the 13th. And from now on…I will hunt until I find another Friday the 13th to go again. I got the largest refund I have received in several years….found out it was due to turning 65 (65 and still Alive!) in 2014. South Carolina must appreciate we “mature citizens”…as my state refund doubled from the prior year.

My car flew home with my mind flying even faster….to share the ‘good news’….”death and taxes”….I am always so thankful to be able to show up at the tax service office each year…and each year I am warmly hugged by the administrators. I’ll take a Friday the 13th tax day any day…because I am still alive to appear and left “shining in light” myself! Hallelujah! Amen!

Valentines at the Dingle-Turner Families:

 * Kaitlyn sent me these Valentines pictures….the one with Rudy is an older one, of course…but Rudy remains in our thoughts and prayer.

Moving on to Eva Cate and Jakie’s home….(Jakie is getting so big it is harder and harder for big sister Eva Cate to hold him!)

Walsh and Mollie sent these pictures from past and present… making squeezable Valentine “applesauce treats” for Rutledge’s Valentines Party…