Second Sunday of Lent

In today’s transfiguration stories we are taken to high places - places of dreams and visions. In revelations there is testing where our sight is restrained, and horizons limited.  In Genesis, Abraham was adhering to the ancient Mesopotamian cultural requirement where firstborn sons and flock were sacrificed, but there was a moment of revelation in discovering that God rejects child/human sacrifice. Abraham listened to the God of life, peace and nonviolence, who not wanting death but life, said ‘stop.’ We see here the declaration that the God of life never requires human sacrifice.

First Sunday of Lent

Today we find rich symbols of God's presence and care for the earth and all upon it. The ‘bow in the clouds’ signifies God's covenant of peace with all creation. The Noah myth also depicts a God who desires the flourishing of life on Earth. This story is one of re-creation where things are put together again by healing and reconciliation. The hovering ‘dove’ bids us come ashore in peace; to cease from our forgetfulness; to end the violence - whether in our bedrooms, workplaces, community, nation, or between nations.