In Luke 5: 1-11 we encounter Jesus, Peter, James and John. They had gone up a mountain to pray, and while on the mountain Jesus had a mystical experience. He was transfigured, “his face changed in appearance, and his clothing became dazzling white.” And, there was a vision of Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets). Peter responded by saying it was good to be there. He proposed erecting tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. He was no doubt awed by the experience. He wanted to hang on to it; he wanted to stay there in this special place with these special people. But, as it says, he did not know what he was saying.
This is a helpful little story for us. It points out a fundamental issue in spiritual discernment. We all have a variety of ordinary human experiences as we interact with our surroundings, each other, and God. And, it is normal and natural that we react and respond to these experiences. We have ideas, feelings, hopes and fears. We are drawn to some things; we are repulsed by other things. And, we are drawn to hold on to experiences that are particularly moving, or meaningful; and to stay with people with whom we have had particularly moving or significant encounters. That is all normal. There is nothing necessarily wrong or bad about that.
But, the fundamental question for us is one of spiritual discernment: What is the movement of God?
What is God doing around us, among us, and in us? And, how can we better align ourselves with the movement of the Spirit, so that we can go with the flow of what God is doing?
Peter had relatively normal human responses to these remarkable experiences. I imagine most of us would have responded in a similar manner. We would have wanted to hold on to the experience; not let it fade or end. We may not have proposed erecting tents, but we probably would have, in some way, tried to capture and hold on to what was happening. But, that is not what God was doing around, among and in them. God's movement was bigger than that. God was preparing Jesus, James, John and Peter for what was about to unfold among them. It appears that Moses and Elijah were conversing with Jesus about what he was going to experience in Jerusalem — that is, Jesus' arrest, torture and death. God was moving around, among and in them in a very powerful way. There is no question about that. And, Peter was not in alignment with the movement of the Spirit. He had his own ordinary, normal human response to the circumstances. Again, there is nothing essentially wrong with that; it is just that his response was not in alignment with the unfolding of the movement of the spirit.
This discernment stuff is tricky business. We don't develop spiritual discernment just by hanging around. We have to work at it. It involves (at least) several important steps, each of which takes time.
First, we have to undergo a transformation or change in the way that we think. Like Peter, we have to go beyond the mind that we have — our ordinary human way of perceiving and thinking — and begin to perceive and think from God's perspective, to think as God would think. This usually involves looking out less and thinking less about the short term interests of me and mine, and more about the long term interests of others, and of the whole. Second, we have to undergo a transformation or change in the way that we feel. We have to go beyond the heart that we have — our ordinary human way of feeling — and begin to feel from God's perspective, to feel as God would feel.
This usually involves feeling less fear, pride, jealousy and anger, and more compassion towards others and gratitude for our lives and our experiences. And, we have to undergo a transformation or change in our will; in the way that we choose and act. We have to go beyond the will that we have — our ordinary human way of choosing and acting — and begin to choose from God's perspective, to choose what God would choose. This usually involves moving away from choices and actions that reflect power, domination and control, and moving toward choices and actions that reflect powerlessness, and humble service.
In all of these ways, Jesus is our best example of how God would think, feel and act; as it is sometimes said, Jesus revels the mind and heart of God.
There is an old prayer that has been attributed to various people, and which found its way into the musical, “Godspell,” which sums this up: to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly.
