Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain…Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. — Matthew 17:1,3
We should always remember that those who have gone on before us haven’t really gone very far.
When my Dad was dying and I was saying to him that it was OK to go, he simply went. I got the very strong sense that there were past loved ones around his bed inviting him to join them. Additionally, throughout my ministry, being with those near death has sometimes brought similar experiences. A dying person talking to an invisible sister who had died two weeks before but no one had told her. A woman on her deathbed suddenly sitting and looking up, saying “It’s beautiful! It’s beautiful!” You felt at least part of that beauty was faces she recognized who were smiling and welcoming her.
And then there are Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. The Transfiguration has traditionally been seen as a preview of the Resurrection. However, if you take out verse 2, it’s like those two Hebrew icons simply appeared out of nowhere. Maybe they were there all along and the disciples’ eyes “were opened” and they were able to see (as in Luke 24:31).
What if relatives dating back countless generations, and friends we’ve known all our lives but have passed on, are living around us? How does everyday life change if you believe that loved ones haven’t been whisked away in a heavenly vortex, but rather are beside us in a present, sacred way? And how does that change the way we approach our own mortality?