“As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.'” – Matthew 17:9a

Who would I tell, Jesus? What would I tell them?
“He glowed like a lamp in the sun, but brighter!”
“Moses was talking to him; so was Elijah!”
“A voice told me to listen from a cloud!”

They’d shake their heads to hear the first,
to hear the second, to hear the third.
The last and final sentence, though, they’d hear and smile:
“And when, pray tell, will you start listening?”

That question’s fair enough, I know.
I blurted out those words of invitation
rather than a question, like, “Should we
build booths for you, as you are here?”

So, Jesus, no, I’ve learned a little bit.
I’ll keep my silence ’till you give the word.
And listen. I will listen, sure as day.
And… maybe… wonder what you mean by “risen from the dead.”

A poem/prayer based on Matthew 17:1-9, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year A, Transfiguration Sunday.

The image is Transfiguration by Latimore, Kelly, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57114 [retrieved February 14, 2023]. Original source: Kelly Latimore Icons, https://kellylatimoreicons.com/.