Lights of the World,
Driving home after Sunday’s Council meeting, I tuned into the TED Radio Hour. Manoush Zomorodi was in conversation with Aqeela Sherrills as he recounted how he brokered the historic truce between the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles, and how, after his own son was murdered, he founded The Reverence Movement – a peace movement. His words swirled around my brain: “I had an epiphany that if I could transform and transmute my pain into power, then I could help, you know, some of my friends and family members to do the same.” I immediately told Siri to take note so I could listen to the story again.
Listening – it’s a lost art. We hear plenty, but how often do we truly listen? Hearing is passive. Listening is an act of reverence.
This last Sunday before Lent begins, we arrive at the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-9. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain where his face shines like the sun. Moses and Elijah appear. Peter immediately wants to do something – “Rabbi, let me build three shelters!” But a voice from a bright cloud interrupts: “This is my Own, my Beloved, on whom my favor rests. Listen to him!”
Not “applaud him.” Not “debate him.” Listen to him.
Aqeela Sherrills sat in the ruins of grief and chose to listen until pain became power. That is transfiguration – not an escape from the valley but mountaintop clarity that transforms how we walk back down into it. And we must come back down together.
In February 2026, the voice from the cloud does not shout over the chaos. It speaks within it and asks us to be still and listen.
I look forward to seeing you Sunday at 10 am on Balclutha, Zoom, or Livestream.
Love,
Rev. Michael