A Love Affair

He is an organic part of the Torah tradition and in Elijah, a summation of the Word as spoken through the prophets.

As with Moses, the real purpose of it all is the work that awaits down off the mountain.  The work of liberation.

But Peter cannot contain himself.  In that sublime moment he lapses into foolishness.  He thinks they can stay there forever.  Much as I longed to stay at that church camp with that red-haired girl, holding hands.

Yet that sparkle of love from that camp, from my years in Sunday school, from hearing my father read to me from Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible took up a subtle residence in my soul.  The luminosity grew in my encounter with a campus minister and his wife and in the close fellowship of the Wesley Foundation at Cal State Long Beach. 

There I encountered the greats of the faith, Tillich, the Niebuhr brothers, Bonhoeffer, the Jewish theologian Martin Buber.  Finally, Dr. Martin Luther King and César Chávez.  Soon my wife and I had grape strike workers from Delano living with us during the Safeway Grape Boycott.  Yes, Safeway finally came to the table.  Jesus’ Transfiguring Light for worker justice burned brightly in my spirit through that work.

It was the same light I felt burning in my heart upon hearing of our Black neighbors down the street being flooded out of their home by the supposed “good Christian” white neighbors.  And when my church down the street said absolutely NOTHING — a Transfiguring Fire burned in my bones.  Shine, Jesus, Shine.

I had grown up in a staunch Republican household.  I proudly wore my “I Like Ike” button to school every day in junior high.  Still have it.  You could say, I had a love affair with America.  The smiling visage of my president was the confirmation that America liked me as well.  Our family prospered and lived the good life.  In the values and norms I revered, that Transfiguring Light shone.  When I placed my hand over my heart for the Pledge of Allegiance, it was that generous, warm smile of my president that flooded into my being.

When President Eisenhower sent the troops into Little Rock to enforce the education rights of Black children, I was filled with pride that our country would side with the shoved aside, the dispossessed having to suffer with underfunded, dilapidated schools.  I was proud of our president, my president.  And of those brave students who ran a gauntlet of hate every day just to get an equal education.  And the National Guard troops upholding their rights as Americans to equal treatment.

I saw that drama every night on our small black and white TV and in the newsreels shown at the movie theater matinees.  In the courage of that president and those students and their teachers, Jesus’ luminosity shown as the blazing Sun of Righteousness.  Yes, “Shine, Jesus, Shine.”

That Light shown ever brightly on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 on a warm, sunny day before millions, both in person and glued to their TVs around the world.  “I have a Dream.”  Tears rolled down my eyes from the joy of that promise.  Transfiguring Light burning through the hatred and lethargy of those still on the sidelines.  Shine, Jesus, Shine.

It could not be extinguished by the hate and terror inflicted on those peaceful marchers as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge on their trek to Montgomery in 1965.  Fire hoses, beatings, police dogs, the hate of snarling racists could not snuff out that Light.  The Transfiguring Light of Liberty can never be finally extinguished. No darkness can ultimately overcome it.  “Shine, Jesus, Shine.”

You see, our compact with one another is a great love affair that, through rocky times and moments of true heroism, has endured for neigh on 250 years.  And through those values that we as a people hold dear, hold in common, Jesus Light yet shines – as we act on them.

And now the beams of that Light fall upon our soiled and troubled faces.  Present to illuminate the way forward as members of the Jesus Movement.

I was delighted (pardon the pun) to receive the word that my church, the national Episcopal Church, would proclaim this last Sunday as Immigration with Dignity Sunday.  Yes, in the leadership of our presiding bishop and our Bishop John, Jesus Transfiguring Light brightly burns, searing away the scorn of those who would dehumanize the sojourner in our midst.

I see reflections of that light in the witness of other faith leaders across this nation, especially in the unity of the faith leaders in Minneapolis.  There the Transfiguring Light of Holy Resistance brightens the corners of injustice and terror.

And for a few who sometimes think I’m sometimes a little too far out there, they haven’t been reading the posts of our Bishop John Taylor on Facebook.  Now, there’s some radical Gospel preaching.  In his prophetic leadership – Shine, Jesus, Shine.

As the Mount of Revelation was illuminated by the Glory of God as Moses ascended it, as the visage of our Lord shone with the radiance of a hundred suns, yet we shall shine in some measure in our witness to the Gospel Truth – God’s love embraces all creation. The movement of the Spirit is to rouse up the greatness in each one of us.

As we gather round the Lord’s table each Sunday, in our affection and care for one another and the stranger, in the tough work in St. Francis Garden of Hope and the strained backs and arms moving pallets of food at the St. John’s Food Bank.  In the fruition of our dreams for House of Hope — Yes, the luminosity of Divine Transfiguring Light.  Today, tomorrow and in days to come – Shine, Jesus, Shine.  All to the Glory of God and our neighbor’s good.  Amen.

February 8, 2026

Epiphany, Last Sunday – Transfiguration Sunday

Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2
2 Peter1:16-21; Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
“A Love Affair”