<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Greetings.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">This is really early however I have to pre-record this Sunday's service for hospital radio. Here in the UK it is Transfiguration Sunday so it is off-topic for many of you. However, I post it in hopes that if it needs amendment and/or revision that others would be willing to offer comments and I can amend same prior to Friday morning at 0600. With many thanks for your thoughts and inspirations each week.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Allison Cline-Dean</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Lead Chaplain, East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Based at Colchester Hospital, Colchester, Essex, UK</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">I have
noticed just how much talking there is these days, including what we see and
hear on social media.<span> </span>There are so many
voices:<span> </span>voices from outside of us
including commentators and politicians talking about what has happened and what
should happen as well as what things should look like.<span> </span>There are voices of judgment, voices of fear,
voices that second-guess.<span> </span>Then we have the
voices from within ourselves:<span> </span>the voices
of self-doubt, voices of criticism, and our own voices of fear.<span> </span>There are the voices of flight or fight,
voices that tell us to hide.<span> </span>It’s tiring
to pay attention to all these conflicting voices.<span> </span>Often I just want some peace, some stillness,
some quiet which is why I value time spent in quiet each day.<span> </span>As I read through the passages, there were
two lines that stuck with me:<span> </span><span> </span>“This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am
well pleased; listen to him!” and “Get up and do not be afraid.”<span> </span>Three things that we are told to do by
God:<span> </span>to listen, to get up, and to not be
afraid.<span> </span>On this Feast of the
Transfiguration, this last Sunday before Lent, let’s see where these three phrases
take us. <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 10pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt">As we listen to everything
going on around us, we realise that not everything we see or hear, is
good.<span> </span>Some is just plain dangerous or
bad for us, causing damage to us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.<span> </span>So how do we discern who to listen for?<span> </span>There is only one voice that we should listen
for and that is Jesus.<span> </span>It is Jesus who
speaks to us about the changes in our lives, our world, our homes. <span> </span>All of us become anxious and afraid when
things change.<span> </span>Yet, if we listen closely
Jesus will speak to us hearts and minds, transfiguring us when we least expect
it.<span> </span>Fr. Michael Marsh writes:<span> </span><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 55.3pt 10pt 0.5in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span><span style="font-size:12pt">In the
midst of change Jesus speaks a word of life, a word of hope, a word of
forgiveness, a word of mercy, a word of beauty, a word of generosity, a word of
courage, a word of love, a word of healing.<span>
</span>Jesus speaks a word to and for you and me. Are we listening to that
word, to his voice?<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span>I mentioned that often change can be a time of
uncertainty, indeed possibly a frightening time.<span> </span>Yet the second phrase that caught my
attention was “Get up and do not be afraid.” <span> </span>How many of us have slipped and fallen either
literally or figurataively?<span> </span>For older
people, especially persons living with dementia, a highly waxed floor or a
slippery pavement can be viewed as frightening due to the fear of slipping and
falling, breaking a hip, a leg, even an arm.<span>
</span><span> </span>For others having to ask for
assistance and revealing that we don’t know as much as people thought we knew
thus losing face in front of colleagues is frightening.<span> </span>As I did some research on “Get up” Greek theological
scholars state that the phrase “get up” actually means to </span><span style="font-size:12pt">“be raised
up,” “be aroused from the sleep of death,” or maybe even “be resurrected.”<span> </span>The writer of the Gospel of Matthew uses this
same phrase several times:<span> </span></span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span></span></span></p>
<ul style="margin-bottom:0in" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 10pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt">Jesus heals the paralytic, telling him, “Stand up” (Mt. 9:6-7);<span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 10pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt">Jesus takes the hand of dead daughter of the synagogue leader, “and
the girl got up” (Mt. 9:25);<span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 10pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt">Jesus instructs the twelve, “Raise the dead” (Mt. 10:8);<span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 10pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt">Jesus foretells his own resurrection (Mt. 16:21; 17:9; 17:23;
20:19; 26:32); and<span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 10pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt">The angel tells the women who come to Jesus’ tomb, “He is not here
for he has been raised, as he said” (Mt. 28:6).<span></span></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">Many of us are struggling right now
with changes in our lives.<span> </span>For some
Brexit has caused no end of difficulties in their relationships, studies, even
work.<span> </span>It may seem like life has ended
yet if we are willing to let Christ be a part of our life, Jesus’ touch will raise
us up and give us new life.<span> </span>We will be
changed and transfigured so that we can move forward with new hope and
peace.<span> </span>Our life choices may have brought
the difficulties we are experiencing upon us yet God always finds new life in
all circumstances as God raises us up.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">The last phrase “Do not be afraid” is
so familiar as it is used in not just Matthew but also the gospels of St. Mark
and St. Luke.<span> </span>We all have fear:<span> </span>fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of
the dark, fear of losing someone we love, fear of changing values. <span> </span>Yet here is God saying to the disciples and to
us “Do not be afraid”.<span> </span>Why?<span> </span>Because when we allow Jesus into our lives,
when we listen, when we allow Jesus to raise us up, then Jesus can deal with
our fear.<span> </span>It is a reminder that we, the
world, those voices, do not have the final word, Christ does.<span> </span>Christ is the light that shines in the darkness.<span> </span>Christ is the one who holds our hand, is
above, below, beside, in front, and behind us as we walk through what may be
for us difficult times. <span> </span>Christ walking
with us gives us the courage to move forward into a new chapter in life in the
midst of change, just as the paralytic did, just as Mary did when she said yes
to bearing Christ, just as the woman healed of the haemorrhage began a new
life, just as Jairus and his family started anew when his daughter was raised
from the dead, as did Lazarus, Mary, and Martha when Lazarus was raised from
the dead.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 1.35pt 10pt 0in;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">Fr.
Michael Marsh writes “</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">Listen to him. Be
raised up. Do not be afraid. What if those words are holy wisdom for times of
change? What if they are the means by which we step into our own
transfiguration?”<span> </span>Our individual
mountain-top transfiguration experiences with God will be what change us.<span> </span>If we listen, are raised up, and have the
courage to move forward, then possibly we may be the light that shines in the
dark for others, making a difference for even one individual.<span> </span></span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">We
are hope in a world that knows little hope, love to a world which knows little
love, peace to a world which knows very little peace.<span> </span>Our challenge is to go forth to love and
serve the Lord in the world, if we have the courage to listen to God, to be
raised up by Christ, and to be sustained by the Holy Spirit which will give us
the courage to move forward into a new life in a new world.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 1.35pt 0.0001pt 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%"><span> </span><span></span></span></p>
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