Robert Fulghum tells about a woman who received a surprising prescription from her psychiatrist. After listening to the woman talk for a long time about the problems and conflicts she was facing at work and at home, the psychiatrist urged her to continue the medication and then said he had something else for her. He wrote out a new prescription, folded it in half, and handed it to her. On her way home, she opened up the piece of paper and read the words the doctor had written: “Spend one hour on early Sunday morning walking in a cemetery and watching the sunrise.”
What kind of prescription was that?
That next Sunday morning as the sun came up, she stood in a cemetery listening to the birds and watching the world come alive all around her. And you know what? It worked. Sunday morning, in a cemetery at sunrise – that’s where she found God. And she found herself in touch with her life again.
I don’t know what you’ve been going through this past week, what crises small and large, what challenges, what tragedies or just plain old conundrums. I don’t know how you’ve been affected by the news this week from home and abroad. If you’re like me, you could probably use an experience like that woman had. You could probably use a God moment like the disciples had on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus shone before them with the light of God.
John Killinger’s prayer expresses the experience of the transfiguration:
“Mountains, light, the cloud – the symbolism of this passage is of height, loftiness, rarefication. It beckons me, Lord, from the tawdriness of my everyday concerns – from a cluttered desk, a messy laundry room, unpaid bills, a car in need of repair. Thank you for hallowing such moments, and for sending a light in my darkness.”
As we near the end of a long, cold winter, we need God to shine a light of hope in our lives. Maybe we will find that light on a mountaintop or a cemetery. Maybe we will find it in a sunrise or in days that are progressively getting longer and brighter. Maybe we will find it as we turn away from our everyday concerns and fix our sights on the teaching and loving example of Jesus. My prayer for all of us is for God to shine a light in our lives and give us the gift of hope!
Your friend and fellow minister, Rev. Steve Savides
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