Every year, on the last Sunday of Epiphany, the Sunday before Lent begins, the Gospel reading tells the story of the Transfiguration, where Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain and is changed in to a figure of light before their eyes. A voice form a bright cloud speaks, calling Jesus his son and bidding the three to listen.
The Old Testament reading is the story of Moses going up Mount Sinai to receive the stone tablets on which are written the ten commandments. A cloud covers the mountain and, from the view of the people at the base, there is also a devouring fire.
What is this cloud?
Why is it that God's voice comes from a cloud? What is it about a cloud that makes it the best possible way to describe the encounter with God, even for the most holy human beings of all time?
A favorite book of mine is called The Cloud of Unknowing. It is a short, readable 15th Century English work that describes the practice and theology of Christian Meditation. Thomas Keating popularized the technique and called it Centering Prayer.
Every other Sunday, people gather at St. Paul's and learn and practice Centering Prayer. By sitting in silence for twenty minutes and using a single word to ever so gently nudge aside all thought, they practice entering the cloud.
I believe the cloud our brothers and sisters approach in their prayers together every other Sunday night is the same cloud as in the scriptures. God is there. God can be sensed but not seen. God speaks.
St. Paul's is a sacred space for your busy life. That means that in our busy lives, we are probably too distracted and moving too fast to sense the holy in life. Here, we slow down and listen and wait. And if we are blessed, we may approach the cloud.
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