Transfiguration: A Meditation on Transforming Ourselves and Our World - Softcover

Dear, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 038551008X ISBN 13: 9780385510080

Verlag: PRH Christian Publishing, 2007

Inhaltsangabe

Spiritual leader and peace activist John Dear guides readers on the path to finding peace within, and bringing harmony to a world torn by hatred and violence, through following in the footsteps of Jesus.
John Dear’s efforts on behalf of social justice and world peace have won him international admiration and spurred features in the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR’s All Things Considered, USA TODAY, and the National Catholic Reporter. Seen by many to be the spiritual heir to the Berrigan brothers, Dear believes that the key to the spiritual life is not just finding inner peace, but also bringing that peace to bear on the outside world. In his latest work, Dear uses the Gospel account of the Transfiguration, inviting readers to shape their lives along the story of Jesus and to continue his mission of love and peace. These practices have sustained him through his work with the homeless in Washington, D.C., and New York City, as a human-rights advocate in Northern Ireland and Iraq, and on his many missions for peace in war-torn places around the world. Dividing the lifelong pursuit of peace into three distinct parts—an inner journey, a public journey, and the journey of all humanity—he delves into the challenges of learning to love ourselves as we are, diffusing the hatred we feel toward others, and embracing the choice to live in peace.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

JOHN DEAR is a priest, retreat leader, author, and peace activist. He has served as the executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith peace organization, and was a Red Cross coordinator of chaplains at the Family Assistance Center in New York City after the September 11, 2001, attacks. He has traveled to the world’s war zones on missions of peace and has been imprisoned repeatedly for civil disobedience in anti-war protests. He lives in northeastern New Mexico.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1.
On the Road with Jesus


In the summer of 1982, when I was twenty–one, I walked alone through Israel from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to Nazareth to Galilee on a pilgrimage to see for myself the land that Jesus knew. I had spent the previous year working odd jobs in Washington, D.C., saving up for the trip as one last voyage into the world before I entered the Jesuits. It was the middle of June when I boarded an Amtrak train to New York City’s Penn Station, walked to Thirty–first Street, and said a prayer in St. Francis of Assisi Church. Then I caught a cab to JFK Airport.

Unfortunately, just then, Israel invaded Lebanon. Many people canceled their plane tickets. I decided to go ahead with my adventure. Instead of the quiet pilgrimage I had envisioned, however, I found myself in a war zone. As I stepped off the plane that day in Tel Aviv, I was greeted with machine guns and interrogated. Wherever I went during those weeks, I saw not the dream of faith, hope, and love but the nightmare of bombs, tanks, and jets. My life would never be the same.

Toward the end of that summer pilgrimage, on a hot July morning, I rode the local Galilee bus from the sea town of Tiberias some twenty miles to the foot of Mount Tabor, the large, round mountain where tradition holds that Jesus was transfigured before his disciples, where Moses and Elijah appeared to him and God spoke from the clouds. After the bus driver let me off and drove on down the deserted road, I stood alone at the foot of the mountain, looking up. I still remember my excitement as I started up the dirt path, through the bushes and olive trees to the mountaintop, thinking about the mystery of the Transfiguration, thrilled and trembling to be climbing the mountain of God.

According to the Gospels, the Transfiguration marks one of the few overtly mystical experiences in Jesus’ life. He was on his way to Jerusalem, where he would engage in nonviolent civil disobedience in the Temple, an act that would lead the authorities to arrest and execute him. On the mountain, in that place of solitude and beauty, God transformed him and gave him a taste of the resurrected life to come. He became the Christ he would become. Suddenly, Jesus’ three closest friends realized that their rabbi was much more than a wise teacher or radical revolutionary. They knew, in fact, that he was the Holy One of God.

Whether the event actually occurred after the resurrection, as some Scripture scholars suggest, or whether it is meant to place Jesus as the fulfillment of the tradition of Moses and Elijah, representatives of the law and the prophets, something dramatic happened to Jesus on that mountaintop, and he found the strength to go back down to resist the empire and fulfill his destiny as the Suffering Servant.

It was blistering hot under a clear blue sky the day I climbed Mount Tabor. I carried only my backpack, with a few clothes, a camera, and a Bible. The road zigzagged, slowly making its way through trees and rocks to the top. The arduous climb often left me exhausted, but I was strangely exhilarated, overwhelmed to walk in the steps of Jesus, to see the land he saw. I rested under the olive trees and marveled at the panoramic view. I looked out at the beautiful brown hills and uninhabited valleys that spread as far as I could see.

After several hours of climbing, I reached the top. I continued along the path toward the majestic towers of the basilica, the huge Church of the Transfiguration, the sole building on the mountain, which commemorates the great event.

I approached the massive church with awe and wonder, walking slowly, mindfully, one step at a time. As I came near the structure, I saw that the front doors stood wide open. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside, gazed at the huge mosaic of the Transfiguration, and realized there was no one else in sight. I was alone on the mountaintop.

I sat in a pew and beheld the bright, colorful mosaics depicting Jesus in his white robes talking to the biblical prophets while the three disciples slept on the ground. After offering a prayer for my life, my family, and the world, I walked outside, sat down, and looked out at the magnificent view of the hills, mountains, valleys, and in the distance, the Sea of Galilee.

If Jesus ever wanted to get away from the crowds, to be alone with a few friends, to pray and reflect on his difficult journey to Jerusalem, this surely was the place. From that mountaintop, I gained a bird’s–eye view and saw the world as if from God’s vantage point. As I took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, my heart beat fast. I was grateful to be alive. This was—literally and figuratively—a peak experience.

In the peace of that mountaintop moment, I felt loved by the Creator of the world and experienced new hope for myself and humanity. Not only was I not alone but I was deeply loved by God. Like the disciples in the story, I was waking up to reality. I perceived an invitation to walk with Jesus down the mountain to Jerusalem, into the heart of the world, where he would risk everything for love of the whole human race, and where I might dare that same risky, all–inclusive, sacrificial love.

From that mountaintop, the journey into the heart of the world, to Jerusalem, made eminent sense. I could see the road ahead, the inevitable tragic outcome, the world’s repeated rejection of God’s gift of peace. I also could see the glorious epilogue, God's resurrection of Christ and the crucified peoples of history, and the risen Christ’s gift of peace. I felt renewed in spirit. Yes, I could go forward in faith and hope to walk the discipleship journey with the Holy One of God.

I started down the mountain, brimming with hope, praising God, bursting with love for everyone, ready to take on the world, to uproot mountains, end wars, convert the masses, heal the sick, and raise the dead. I felt so high because I knew that I was walking with Jesus, and that he would do these things. All the way down I sang an Easter hymn of resurrection. The chorus was easy: “Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!”


Whenever I get the chance to speak with others about the spiritual life, I share this basic truth, that we are on a journey with God through life toward death and new life. If we choose, we can transform our life journey immeasurably by deliberately following in the footsteps of Jesus. Through contemplative prayer, Gospel study, and shared community, we can learn to walk with him and let him lead us where he will. Even though we fall flat on our faces time and time again, he always helps us up and enables us to take another step forward on the journey home to God’s house of love and peace.

If we can respond to this call and try to follow Jesus, our lives will be transfigured because they are no longer our own. They will belong to Jesus. They take on universal meaning and find a place in the cosmic scheme of creation.

But we cannot find that place on our own. If we hand over our lives to Jesus and start walking with him, he will lead us to new places, new people, and new truths, so that the journey is no longer a journey from crisis to crisis, from death to death, but from life to new life, peace to deeper peace, glory to even greater glory. As we walk with Jesus, we find ourselves entering his story and beginning to share his life. Like Jesus, we start serving the poor, healing the broken, liberating the oppressed, speaking up for justice, and making peace. All kinds of miracles occur, not by any effort of our own but by the grace of God working through our brokenness and discipleship. Our lives suddenly blossom. We come alive because our lives are now in the service of the God of life.

For the Christian, life makes most sense as a journey in the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: PRH Christian Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2007
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 038551008X
• ISBN 13: 9780385510080
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland