Episode 131 - Saint Peter and Three Tents

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: "After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  and he was transfigured before them: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.  Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, 'Lord, it is good that we are here.  If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.'  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.'  When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them, saying 'Rise, and do not be afraid.' This is the scripture that came to me while I was walking my dog, Arrow, at Simpsonwood Park, doing my best to reconcile the joy I have for my daughter who just started a new adventure at Georgia Southern University with the broken heart I have because of her absence and the weight of the reality that a season of my life is coming to a close.  The struggle, as they say, is real.  For nineteen years, we have been building up to her launch, but when it finally occurred, it was very, very hard to accept.  I am excited for her but sad.  I know it is the best, but I still cry.  Suddenly.  Walking up the stairs.  Glancing at the door to her empty bedroom. I have been praying about it.  Perhaps I can use this experience to better understand our Heavenly Father's heart.  What did sin do but separate Him from his children?  And how did He respond but launch a massively scaled rescue mission, sending a savior, a Messiah, His Son, to defeat sin and death on the cross so that the distance between Father and all of His children is closed?  I miss her.  God missed us all.  Perhaps this small taste will draw me closer to His heart. But then I thought of Peter and his statement that "it is good that we are here."  And then it hit me.  I am just like Peter.  In being so reluctant to turn a page, go from one season to another, I am essentially saying the same thing: "it is good that we are here."  And I also have the impulse to build tents.  One for this daughter.  One for that daughter.  One for yet another daughter.  I am trying to stay in this season, trying to keep my daughters little, in princess dresses, reliant on me and their mother for everything. But what does scripture tell us?  While Peter was still speaking, still drafting plans to stay in that moment, that season, something profound happened.  They heard the voice of God.  What was good turned into something even better, something unimaginable.  To be sure, they got a glimpse of their own future glory, and their reaction was typical enough.  Fear. They were terrified.  But what does Jesus do?  The same thing He has been doing all along...saying to them, "Do not be afraid." Our lives are made up of a series of seasons.  I thought about the many seasons in my life on that walk in the park.  Some seasons are good while others are more challenging, but a common response to going from one season to another is fear.  Becoming an empty nester makes me afraid. Not having all of my daughters living under one room with me and my wife makes me afraid.  Yet this scripture tells me that my impulse to want to stay in a season – declare that the season is "good" and begin to build tents – is not in God's economy.  Though I cannot see it, God's plans are better, way better than mine.  Here was good for a time, and I cherish every single memory of that season when the girls were little, when they held my hand to cross the street.  But here is not where we were meant to remain.  Peter wanted to build tents.  God wants to build His kingdom.  May all of our children have a hand in that glorious effort as we continue to love them fiercely from a distance.