It is good for us to be here

If I learned anything from my four days of slavery to last week's sermon (posted later today) it is this - the only place where real rest can occur is in the presence of the Almighty.  In the midst of confusion, fear, frustration, lonliness, or sadness rest and comfort can be found in the Lord.

Peter, James, and John (and the rest of the disciples for that matter) had experienced a lot in their time with Jesus, but the six days leading up to his transfiguration must have been among the most intense.  Peter's confession that Jesus is the Messiah put out into the open what they all had to have been thinking, and when something that has gone unsaid gets verbalized it becomes really real.

Jesus is the Christ.

For six days the disciples had to wrestle with what that meant. Was war in their future? What would his reign look like? Who would share his power? Who would train the armies? Questions, uncertainties, fears, and maybe a little back-biting and infighting were probably the name of the game for that week.

Filled with all that emotion, Pete, James and John head up the mountainside with Jesus and in the disorienting prsence of the Holy One, Peter is compelled to say, "it is good for us to be here."  And it was. It was good for them to get back in touch with the Creator of all things. It was good for them to find God's peace. It was good for them to get back in touch with the will of the Father.

I learned that lesson again last week, and like the disciples, I had to learn it the hard way. Be present, o Christ, and bring us your peace.