The Feast Day of the Transfiguration: August 6th

August 6, 2026 joanna seibert

The Feast Day of the Transfiguration: August 6th

chapel of transfiguration, camp mitchell

“Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him… Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”— Luke 9:28-36

Today, we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration, during which we heard the story of Jesus being revealed on a high mountain to three of his disciples as the incarnation of God. Anyone in 12-step recovery can immediately identify with transfiguration, seeing the light, a moment of clarity, and encountering the God who has been there all along within us and others. Still, we never saw this before because we were too busy making “dwellings” for other idols, such as alcohol, food, drugs, work, etc.

Moments of transfiguration occur when we are awakened from a deep unconscious sleep into a conscious bright light, where we see, feel, taste, and touch God’s presence. Transfiguration is about experiencing our true nature, the part of God within ourselves and others. It is the moment when the veil of all else begins to fall away, and we connect with the presence of God within us, eventually desiring to turn our life and our will over to the care of God. That is the moment when we let go and let God.

Richard Rohr believes we cannot see God in others until we first see God within ourselves. That moment of clarity speaks to us that we are better than the life we are leading. So, recovery is seeing that spark of God first within ourselves, which leads us to see God in others. We encounter the person who once annoyed us and caused us to harbor resentment, and we begin to notice a glimpse of the face of God in our neighbor, and we may respond in love.

“If we want to find God, then connect to God within ourselves, and we will always see God beyond us. For it is only God in us who knows where and how to look for God.” 1

Frederick Buechner reminds us that as we see God within ourselves, we begin to see God in situations we had never noticed before: “the face of a man walking his child in the park, a woman picking peas in the garden, sometimes even the unlikeliest person listening to a concert, standing barefoot in the sand watching the waves roll in, or just sitting with friends at a Saturday football game in September. Every once in a while, something so touching, so incandescent, so alive transfigures another human face that it’s almost beyond bearing.” 2

If you are having difficulty seeing the face of God, stop for a moment and look at our young children. God’s presence seems to burst forth from them. I have been overwhelmed by God’s presence this past week among the 90 children at our Vacation Bible School at Saint Mark’s.

Transfiguration is the message and promise of recovery, seeing the face of God first in ourselves and then in others. Each day, we celebrate the transfiguration that recovery continually brings to our lives and to the face of every person we encounter. Transfiguration is a daily reality.

Chapel of transfiguration Grand Tetons national park

1 Richard Rohr Adapted from The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2009), 159-161.

2Frederick Buechner in Whistling in the Dark (HarperSanFrancisco 1988), p. 120.

Observing Creation: A New Spiritual Practice to Help Us Live in the Present Moment

August 5, 2026 joanna seibert

Observing Creation: A New Spiritual Practice to Help Us Live in the Present Moment

"Here's a suggestion for you today. At some point, stop. Gaze at something God has created. Take in its shape and form, color, movement, and intricacies. It could be a single bud on an autumnal flower, an animal or bird, a shapely fruit, or flowing water. Gaze at it long enough to see through it to its source: God—so majestic, infinitely creative, and miraculously generous in sharing these traces of God's glory with us."—Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of Saint John the Evangelist.

Brother Almquist offers us a new spiritual practice. He invites us to gaze at something in creation: a tree, a flower, a bird, a river, the rain, the snow, until we see the Creator in it. We might call it Observo divina. This will be a new practice for today. It all started yesterday when we saw two fawns of similar ages with a single doe in our backyard. We were mesmerized by the fawns' awkward gait, curiosity, and their seemingly delighted exploration of a new world at every turn.

This practice is another way to learn to live in the present moment. This is where God meets us, in the present moment.

Today, as I write, a lone male deer with huge antlers passes by my window. He takes my breath away. Once, multiple deer passed by my window, but now visits are infrequent. The buck is probably headed across the street to join many other deer living in the woods behind our son and his wife's house. There, I know he will be just as welcome as he was here. In fact, all the images were taken by our daughter-in-law, Mary Anne Seibert. As he walks by majestically, I think of a scene from the movie The Queen, when Elizabeth II encounters a beautiful deer. They simply look at each other and admire one another. They seem to see the beauty of creation in the other.

This is also what we do for each person we meet today. We look into their hearts to see Christ, God, and the Spirit within them. Our task is to see the Creator in all creation and to praise and give thanks for it.

We start with lovable things until we can finally see creation in those with whom we have difficulty. Take heart. Sometimes it may take more than a lifetime. But God never gives up on us, living beside us in the present moment and placing so much beauty before us that we cannot help but stop, notice, and give thanks.

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

We Celebrated the Early Risers Yesterday on August 3rd: The Myrrh-Bearing Women Who Came to the Empty Tomb

August 4, 2026 joanna seibert

We Celebrated the Early Risers on August 3rd: The Myrrh-Bearing Women Who Came to the Empty Tomb

Myrrh Bearer Uncut Mountain Supply Icon Company

"Wisdom is radiant and unfading,

and she is easily discerned by those who love her,

and is found by those who seek her.

She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.

One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,

for she will be found sitting at the gate."—Wisdom 6:12-14.

Many of my spiritual friends are early risers. Early morning is their time to read, meditate, or write before the day's business begins. I once walked around our neighborhood in the early morning before heading to the hospital to work. Now I look out a floor-to-ceiling picture window, watching and waiting for the sun to rise and for cardinals, blue jays, and woodpeckers to appear at my feeder.

At the beach, I like to sit outside and feel night give way to day. I look forward to the Gulf breeze and to watching the water creatures gather to begin their day. The Gulf is their home. They are local. We are visitors. The lone osprey circles high above the waves. The single blue heron swoops in and slowly struts on his stilts toward the early-morning fishermen at the water's edge, hoping to receive their small rejections. The pelicans fly in military formation, so close to the waves that they must constantly get their feathers wet.

The early risers are like the myrrh-bearing women at the empty tomb on Easter morning, whose feast day we celebrate on August 3rd. They rise early, living in the present moment, unaware of what they will find. Each new morning offers the possibility of a resurrection experience, a new beginning—and they will find it daily as the sun rises majestically above the horizon with its color guard, especially on Sunday mornings.

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/