Environmental Stewardship Commission

Reflection on Matthew 17: 1-9
by the Rev Dcn Helen Hanten

When Moses went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone with the law and the commandments, God spoke from a cloud and appeared like a devouring fire. When Jesus and his three closest disciples climbed a mountain, the three suddenly saw Jesus differently – dazzling – and God's voice came from a cloud.

Mountain tops are places we can see the farthest.  We can sometimes see in all directions. We see over the top of things nearby and look to a horizon which is farther away than we see from the ground. This describes a good place for a search for the divine. We need to be able to see more than our own routine of places to be and things to see. We need to be dazzled by the light of some new understanding, a new way to envision who, what and where God is. We listen, in prayer, for God to speak.

But even there, in these accounts, God speaks from a cloud. Clouds keep us from seeing clearly. Fog, a cloud on the ground, can keep us from seeing much of anything. Flying above clouds prevents us from seeing the earth beneath us. Reality is obscured. But the cloud, as a metaphor for that which obscures our understanding of God, also tells us that it is in ordinary things of creation that we encounter the presence of the Creator. Those times that we feel God's presence dazzling us, God's voice may be heard in the gifts of creation.

NOTE: This reflection ties the Gospel Reading together with the Hebrew Scipture (Old Testament) Reading.  Helens's reflection for both readings is identical.

The Rev Dcn Helen Hanten is a retired deacon and was an active member of St. Andrew's By-the-Lake Episcopal Church, Duluth, MN, when she originally wrote this reflection in 2002.  Helen and we welcome your comments. Please address your comments or additional reflections to Helen Hanten or any MEESC member, or mail them to: