From the earliest
times, in the dim recesses of the past, the quest for fire characterized the
emergence of Homo Sapiens (and likely
other proto-human species, such as the Neanderthals). Fire provides two desirable qualities: light and heat.
Today is all about the
fire of light and heat. Today we
celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord.
(The Revised Common Lectionary places it on the Sunday right before
Lent. It serves as the transition from
Epiphany, when Jesus is revealed to the world, and Lent, when the road of
discipleship is revealed.) But today is
the traditional date for its observation.
On the mountaintop, the
fire of the light of God is seen shining in the face of Christ. Peter, James, and John are blinded by the
glory.
Today also marks the
anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, one of the worst crimes in human
history. (As an added obscenity, the
first atomic bomb test was nicknamed “Trinity.”) The fire of heat blinded the residents of an
entire city. (It happened three days later to the
residents of Nagasaki.)
Out
of the horror, the fire of Hiroshima has been transfigured into the light of
peace. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial
bears testimony that war does not have the final word. The transfigured one, the Prince of Peace,
takes the cold darkness of our world and transforms it with the fire of warm
radiance.
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