July 10, 2024 at 9:27 a.m.
Peak experiences
Everyone has “good days” and “bad days.” At least, that’s how we tend to brand those moments in life that seem to color an even longer period, if we let them. A day in which we experienced a surprise perhaps, something we were not expecting that changed our outlook, perhaps even the course of our life. If the event was a happy surprise, we might even enjoy going back to it in our memory when things are not going particularly well. When we are feeling down, recalling such moments can pick us up and help us to maintain our course better on the rough seas we may be navigating. Such “peak experiences” are very likely moments of grace. Not earned, just given. And for them we must be grateful.
I have often spoken of one that I had, of all places, at a kitchen table on a Saturday morning. As I was complaining, a good friend encouraged me to accept that God loved me. It was not that I did not believe that. I mean I knew it was true. God loves all of us! Nothing is more central to our Christian faith than that God wants all of us to be happy, not only in this life but, even more importantly, eternally. We may not always feel good and sometimes that is because we forget the sacrifices Our Lord — and many others — have made for us. We can take grace for granted. That morning, my friend reminded me of God’s love. I had been feeling sorry for myself because I was working hard and I felt my work was not producing any result that I could see that pleased me. Those kind words lifted me out of myself in such a way that I could not deny the truth I would preach to others with confidence, but was not accepting in my heart and soul at the time. Physician, heal yourself!
Parents and grandparents, teachers and caregivers — yes, even priests and religious! — can go through periods in which they might question whether all their prayers and works are “worth it,” as we might say. Is GOD even noticing!? We know from the accounts of the lives of many saints that every day for them was not like living in a rose garden. St. Teresa of Calcutta shocked many who read her diary post mortem that described long periods of what the spiritual writers refer to as spiritual “dryness.” St. John of the Cross famously spoke of the “dark night of the soul.”
I wonder how St. Peter was feeling the day after he had professed his faith in Jesus as the “Son of God.” The gospels recall how Jesus invited a response from his disciples to the question, who do you say that I am. Peter blurted his answer out so spontaneously and surprisingly that Jesus exclaimed he could not have come to this conclusion on his own, that it was revealed to him from above. Then Jesus did something even more surprising perhaps. He named Peter as the very foundation of his Church against which the gates of hell would not prevail. Wow! What an uplift.
Peter, no doubt feeling at the top of his game as “king” of the apostles must have been on a high for no sooner does Jesus elevate him when he has to take him down a notch. Realizing that this “promotion” might make him misunderstand the purpose of his role — like that of Jesus, to serve and not be served — Jesus adds that the “Son of Man” would have to suffer and die before rising. This is not in Peter’s plan for him, so he tries to talk Jesus out of what he has discerned from the Father. We know Jesus quickly dismisses Peter’s attempt to distract him, even calling him a satan. The temptation is to think that our best moments, our highest highs, are owed to us and not to a source of grace higher than ourselves.
We are something like an infant crawling on the carpet when a parent or grandparent suddenly picks the child up and makes it as if he or she is actually flying. The infant will feel like he or she is soaring on their own and may make arm gestures as if somehow those motions could speed up the flight and advance the height. Sooner or later, what goes up must come down and the return to the rug is not always appreciated. Tears may come and a plea for more. The child does not realize the kindness and authority of the parent.
No experience, however, better describes a “peak experience” than the Transfiguration. All three Synoptic gospels offer an account. Jesus leads Peter, James and John up a mountain, unnamed perhaps to suggest that what is to occur in time is also a model for similar spiritual experiences in our own time. In the Scriptures, mountain peaks typically symbolize spaces where heaven and earth meet, whether God enters human lives. Nothing about this climb is unusual until suddenly the appearance of Jesus is transformed. The three apostles see him in a new and glorious light. Their relationship with him is changed forever.
It is significant that the incident occurs right after Peter’s confession/promotion — and his misstep. Jesus instantly rehabilitates him, as he often does. Peter strays, like any of us, and Jesus sets him right again when he humbly accepts him as Lord. And there is no doubt that the Transfiguration is a profound affirmation of the Lordship of Christ. For Moses and Elijah appear, the mainstays of the Old Testament, representing the law and the prophets. Peter and his companions want to glom onto them, so to speak, to even make tents for them. But the voice they hear says, no, Jesus is the beloved Son of God: Listen to HIM!”
Whatever our own peak experiences, they will not serve us well or for long unless Jesus our Lord is there in the midst. Every honeymoon, no matter how memorable and ecstatic, will not save a marriage which is not rooted in the Lord. What is “peak” about the experience is not even that it happens in a cloud or on a mountain top. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were disoriented with the chaos and rumors around them, probably every arguing. But they were focused on Jesus and trying to understand all about him. And, of course, he showed up. He always does. Whatever our state of confusion, whatever our questions of doubts, whatever our worries about our tomorrows — our own, our country’s, even our church — if we keep our focus on Jesus, we will not sink. Peter learned that lesson on the mountain as well as on the stormy Sea of Galilee. Jesus brings peace. He IS our peak experience.
@AlbanyDiocese
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