A Momentary Vision

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.” Mark 9:2-13 

A Momentary Vision

We are often given a glimpse
of what we will know for certain
yet a momentary vision must be
enough for these days of struggle.

Often we are awake in night's darkness
 our breathing shallow and afraid
we know we are on the verge of knowing
yet the truth is often to hard to bear.

High on the  clouded mountain top
light surrounded him and blinded them
the ancestors gathered to give the sign
the whole of the universe colliding there.

We can only see in a mirror dimly now
in the smooth summer waters we catch it
in moments of quiet and in the crowds
we know that the eternal is standing there.

What comes first before bliss is struggle
before justice comes skin peeling truth
before love comes an ache so very deep
what we know now is nothing but shadow.