We made known to you

Haiku responding to 2 Pt 1:16-21

We came not with myths,

cleverly designed, we told

you of his coming

He came among us.

We witness to his power;

we saw it ourselves

We witnessed Jesus

in all of his majesty

in all his glory.

God acknowledged him

on the mountain, declaring:

My beloved Son!

We were with him there,

when the voice spoke from heaven,

in that holy place..

We bring a message

of prophecy, God confirms

the things that we say

Attend to these words,

light shining in a dark place,

dawning in your hearts.

No prophecy comes

from human will; but from those

moved by God's Spirit.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Heaven has come close

Haiku of illumination

Four of them, climbing

the mountain of destiny;

Jesus and some mates.

While he was praying

his face became altered, white,

dazzling and bright.

A conversation,

Moses, Elijah, Jesus,

speaking of the end.

Heaven has come close,

the divine and the human

weaving together.

There is glory here,

a glimpse before the end, when

fullness is revealed.

The descending cloud

overshadows, a voice speaks;

My Son: hear his words!

The cloud lifts. Only

Jesus remains. He tells them,

Do not speak of this.

Only at the end,

Beyond the cross and the tomb

will they understand.

© Ken Rookes 2022

Dazzling White

 

Surprising haiku

Transfiguration,

that’s what we call the event;

filled with wonder, light.

Peter, James and John;

mates of Jesus, went with him

up a high mountain.

Some sort of vision,

collective experience

shared by one and all.

Jesus was glowing,

dazzling white like bleached cloth

shining in the sun.

Moses, Elijah;

law-giver, prophet; join him

in conversation.

Perhaps they talk death;

the two long buried, and one

still facing his own.

His mates are flummoxed,

don’t know what to say. Better

not to have spoken.

A cloud and a voice

bring the scene to its climax:

My Son: Hear his words!

© Ken Rookes 2021

The mountain was high

Haiku of illumination

The mountain was high,

according to Matthew’s text.

Four friends made the climb.

Mystery mountain

cloaked in energy and light;

Jesus shining bright.

Moses, man of law,

talking with the carpenter

and comparing notes.

Prophet Elijah

enters the conversation,

gives his two-bob’s worth.

Jesus, fulfilment

of the law and the prophets.

Illumination.

Further approval

in the voice and shining cloud:

Listen to my Son!

Some who name him, Lord,

forget his command to love.

They will not listen.

Surpassing the Law

and greater than the prophets:

Jesus’ words of love.

© Ken Rookes 2020

Intimations

Intimations

Haiku of wonder

Transfiguration

intimations of glory;

he must be the one.

Great stories are told

to further prove the greatness

of one we call Christ.

The stage is prepared:

for a sacred drama, here,

upon a mountain.

Lots of heavy stuff

happens high up in mountains;

just ask Elijah.

Elijah is there,

along with Moses, talking

with Jesus, shining.

Prophet, lawmaker,

they converse with one who will

surpass both of them.

The cloud voice echoes:

this is my Son, the chosen,

listen to his voice.

His bewildered friends

have no idea what it means,

or who they follow.

The story is told

across two millennia;

and still we wonder.

© Ken Rookes 2019

transfiguration colouring

Transfiguration

Quite a few years ago i visited Israel and, as a part of that pilgrimage, i went to the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. It is a beautiful place set on a mountaintop from which you you can see for miles over the surrounding plains. the church itself is quite stunning, full of gold and blue mosaics. It shines! 

On reflecting upon the Transfiguration story this year i have been deliberating on our own transfigurations. Like many aspects of Jesus person-hood, we are not called just to stand by in awe at Christ, but to be Christ-like. When Jesus was transfigured, the story tells us that he was shown as his own true self, in all his truth and beauty. So, i am called by the transfiguration to be open to my true self. I am called to know myself as God knows me and to be transfigured by that knowledge. I guess when I imagine myself as God knows me I usually think of only my shadow and darkness. This story calls me take the more challenging path of seeing the beauty, divine light and creativity within me and in others around me and so to be transfigured. The story also calls me to be a Divine agent by having the loving eyes of God and seeing the beauty and light in others. So perhaps transfiguration is not just a pretty story about Jesus. It's about us. 

Rev Gordon Bannon

Just Jesus

Haiku of bedazzlement

Upon a mountain

a man with his closest friends,

seeking some answers.

A lighting display

worthy of the harbour bridge

on new year’s eve.

They gasp in wonder,

dazzled, those three companions;

what does it all mean?

Two guests from the past,

Elijah stands with Moses,

prophet stands with law.

Its all about light,

from above, in our darkness,

shining hope and love.

In the cloud of light,

the voice of affirmation;

he will be the one.

Fade to normal light.

They are alone, just Jesus

standing with his friends.

Once more to the plain

they descend with their master.

Tell no-one; for now!

© Ken Rookes 2018.

a transfiguration Prayer for others

·       FOR OTHERS

Stir up in us, Loving God, the desire and the determination to glorify you in every prayer and in all our relationships. Transfigure not only our own lives but also the lives and affairs of the millions with whom we share this planet.

 Transfigure each ordinary church-goer.

     Dispel discouragement and self-doubt, self-righteousness and arrogance.

 Transfigure the women and men who preach the Gospel. 

     Enlarge their understanding and expand their capacity to love.

 Transfigure the hopes of the down-trodden and dispossessed.

     Give a new compassion to the strong and the prosperous.

 Transfigure the expectations of the young.

     Disperse the vainglory and indulgence with which this society indoctrinates them.

 Transfigure the values and goals of political leaders.

     Inspire them to act justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with you.

 Transfigure the anguish of those who tremble or weep, suffer or die today.

     Let the valley of sorrows become an avenue of hope to your children.

 Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen!

Bruce Prewer

His face shone like the sun

Haiku of fear and bewilderment

A small, select group

go hiking up a mountain

to admire the view.

A vision of light.

His face, it burns like the sun,

his clothes dazzle white.

Jesus shines, commands

his friends' attention; as if

words were not enough.

Jesus greets Moses

and Elijah, consulting

with history

The cloud of bright light

descends and immerses them

into mystery.

The cloud finds its voice:

This is my beloved son;

what he says is true.

The disciples quake,

with bewilderment and fear.

They fall to the ground.

They are left alone.

Jesus comes to them and speaks:

Do not be afraid.

Making their descent,

he instructs them: Tell no-one

'til death is conquered.

© Ken Rookes 2017

The opening of eyes

The Opening of Eyes, by David Whyte

That day I saw beneath dark clouds 
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.

It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing
speaking out loud in the clear air.

It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last,
fallen in love with solid ground.

Mountain Haiku Sequence

Come with me, he says

to Peter, James and John;

time to climb up high-

Mountain-top prayers

where earth and heaven come close;

connecting the two.

Wonder and light. Ah,

these things take away one's breath;

eyes and hearts grow wide.

Moses, Elijah

standing there, bleached and glowing;

speaking mysteries.

The one they followed

also shines, shares the wonder.

Who can this man be?

A cloud, descending,

hides the light-washed ones from view;

then the voice thunders.

It speaks approval:

He is my Son, the chosen;

listen to his words.

The cloud is lifted.

The four remain in silence,

alone with their thoughts.

© Ken Rookes 2016

Six days later

 

With his introductory, Six days later,
Matthew follows Mark in sending us backwards to his previous story; 
with its talk of losing and finding one’s life. 
A triumvirate of friends accompanies their master up the mountain, 
where the gentle swell of casual conversation
empties abruptly into a wave of light, awe and mystery.
Two glowing figures from their nation’s glorious past
emerge from among the rocks to confer with the teacher,
while his companions look on, bewildered.
One of them, as clueless as his comrades,
feeling overwhelmed and useless,
offers his services in cubby-house construction,
before being rendered speechless,
as the luminous wave rolls into a cloud of brightness
that subsumes all other lights.
Not satisfied with dominating the visual realm
the cloud finds its voice to declare the presence of a divine son,
and to command attention:
Listen to him!
When he speaks of a discipleship
that deals with suffering, dying and rising,
and when he speaks of taking up crosses;
Listen to him!

© Ken Rookes 2014 

Time out

Today’s Gospel reading is about Jesus and his three closest friends having some ‘time- out’ together and the beneficial consequences of doing this. They had been having a busy time and for Jesus, it was becoming more apparent that his activities and teaching were annoying the religious authorities. They were frequently questioning him and trying to trip him up. Just before this story [16:13-16], he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the son of man is?” The term, “son of man” was a way in which people of the time referred to them-self. After they had answered, Jesus had asked, “Who do you say that I am?” and seemed pleased with the reassurance he got from them, which was different to his reaction recorded in Mark’s Gospel [Mark 8:27-29]. Perhaps Jesus, in his humanness was having a crisis of identity and was wondering himself just who he was.

...As I was writing this, there was a programme on Radio National about disciplining children. Many times during this hour, people mentioned ‘Time Out’ as a punishment which is very effective. I am always saddened to hear this. It is a shame if people think and children grow up understanding, that taking time out is a sort of punishment. While time out does generally change people, it may not be for the reason those doing the disciplining think. As we can see from our stories today, time out is a privilege, a gift we can give to ourselves and to others and a necessary part of our relationship with God.

These times out are a gift from God for us, another form of Sabbath rest in which our relationship with God others and ourselves can grow. I urge you to follow Moses and Jesus’ example, whether for one day or up to forty days. There is no way of knowing before what you will see and hear, but it is guaranteed you will come back transformed. You will see Christ in a new way and that will enrich your relationships. If you haven’t done so already, I urge you accept the invitation for some time out with God. You, too, may be radically transformed by the experience.

Rev Julianne Parker

affirmation of faith for Transfiguration

•Affirmation of faith

Let us affirm our faith together:

We believe in a God who is

never confined to our imagining,

is never in bondage to our beliefs,

and never held fast in our dwelling places.

Our God is the mystery of divine

and human bound together,

of power and vulnerability, of crucifixion and resurrection.Our God is the wonder of truth and compassion,

of liberation and responsibility of

eternal wisdom and costly grace.

We celebrate this God who leaps free of all our boundaries in love

 stretching out from horizon to horizon,

and in mercy bending deep into fragile human hearts.

Dorothy McRae-McMahon

a sense of beyondness

“[I believe] there is nothing more needed by humanity today …

than the recovery of a sense of “beyond-ness”

in the whole of life to revive the springs of wonder and adoration.”  John. V Taylor

even with us ....

It was Jesus of Nazareth all right, the man they'd tramped many a dusty mile with, whose mother and brothers they knew, the one they'd seen as hungry, tired, footsore as the rest of them. But it was also the Messiah, the Christ, in his glory. It was the holiness of the man shining through his humanness, his face so afire with it they were almost blinded.
Even with us something like that happens once in a while. The face of a man walking his child in the park, of a woman picking peas in the gar-den, of sometimes even the unlikeliest person listening to a concert, say, or standing barefoot in the sand watching the waves roll in, or just having a beer at a Saturday baseball game in July. Every once and so often, some-thing so touching, so incandescent, so alive transfigures the human face that it's almost beyond bearing.
Frederick Buechner, Transfiguration

Transfiguration quote

Transfiguration is living by vision: standing foursquare in the midst of a broken, tortured, oppressed, starving, dehumanizing reality, yet seeing the invisible, calling to it to come, behav­ing as if it is on the way, sustained by elements of it that have come already, within and among us. In those moments when people are healed, transformed, freed from addictions, obsessions, destructiveness, self-wor­ship or when groups or communities or even, rarely, whole nations glimpse the light of the transcendent in their midst, there the New Creation has come upon us. The world for one brief moment is transfigured. The beyond shines in our midst—on the way to the cross.

Walter Wink

Speaking of his departure.

Luke had barely begun his gospel,
having launched it in cosmiclebration
with angel choirs and shepherds;
before pointing us to the end.
On a mountain we overhear a dread-filled discussion
between a pair of ancient shining legends
and a third man glowing.
This latter one
has begun to attract some attention
and a following; maybe one day
he will be accorded similar hall of fame status.
They speak of endings,
and of Jerusalem’s long-reaching shadows.
This going-away talk
must have disturbed his three friends.
Along with the rest of the twelve,
and, presumably, the women and the others,
they struggled with notions of departure and death.
Caught up in a glorious adventure
and hoping it would never end,
they listened to his words but were unable to hear.
Perhaps not the women; power,
glory and immortality tend to be a male thing.
The dazzling lights are diminished,
extinguished;
overtaken by the darkness of a cloud
and the insistent shaded echo of a voice.
The four men take leave of the mountain
and journey towards an inevitable Jerusalem.
There will be set before them
other days of disturbing light;
and with them, many shadows.

© Ken Rookes 2013

The play's not done

The play is not done / Oh, no, not quite / For life never ends / In the moonlit night. / And despite what pretty poets say / The night is only half the day. / So we would like to fully finish / What was foolishly begun / For the story is not ended / And the play never done / Until all of us have been burned a bit / And burnished by the sun.

(from The Fantastics)