Once again, as in Exodus, we are on a mountain. Once again we find Moses and the light of God. And again we experience a cloud of mystery that confounds our plans and befuddles our expectations.

Peter offers to build structures. (Has he stashed building supplies in his knapsack?) Peter’s reaction reflects our inclination to try to make sense of things, to “capture” them and fit them into our way of understanding. At an art museum I watched a woman walk into a room, exclaim, “Oh, a van Gogh!” snap a photo of it, and leave. It was perhaps her only chance to see the painting in person, but she did not stop to look at it. Contemplative presence invites us to set aside our desire to control or understand, to “capture the moment,” and simply, lovingly, behold what is, as it is, face-to-face.

On the mountain, Peter is still trying to make Jesus into the kind of Messiah Peter has in mind. He wants to get his picture right. But the cloud comes like an eraser to rub out that idea. We have our ideas about Jesus from church doctrines and personal convictions. But the point is not to believe certain things about Jesus; it’s to listen to him.

Jesus is a living presence. We can let him speak to us and be present with us. When we set aside our expectations and let him come to us anew, the Beloved—with whom God is well pleased—may reveal himself to us. We can receive “Jesus himself alone.”

As you read scripture, as you reflect on your experience moment by moment, let Jesus speak to you. Perhaps he is speaking to you right now. Ask the Spirit to help you listen to him in your heart. Listen and wonder, What is Jesus saying to me?