Monday, February 15, 2010

Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory

This Transfiguration text by Thomas H. Troeger, b. 1945, is another good addition to Lutheran Service Book (416).  It is set to a fine tune, LOVE'S LIGHT, by LCMS composer, Amanda Husberg, b. 1940.   If you missed using this one last Sunday, make a mental note to use it for Transfiguration 2011.  Troeger's text amplifies the final stanza of the well-known hymn, "'Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here":  'Tis good, Lord, to be here!  Yet we may not remain; But since Thou bidst us leave the mount, Come with us to the plain.  Troeger's text takes us with Peter, James and John down the mountain to the plain and valley, to Jerusalem and the cross.  No disciple is greater that his master; our lives are shaped by the cross as well, as are the lives of all true followers of Jesus.  For such living under the cross, we truly need a daily transfiguration of our perceptions and intentions.

Swiftly pass the clouds of glory,
    Heaven’s voice, the dazzling light;
Moses and Elijah vanish;
    Christ alone commands the height!
Peter, James, and John fall silent,
    Turning from the summit’s rise
Downward toward the shadowed valley
    Where their Lord has fixed His eyes.

Glimpsed and gone the revelation,
    They shall gain and keep its truth,
Not by building on the mountain
    Any shrine or sacred booth,
But by following the Savior
    Through the valley to the cross
And by testing faith’s resilience
    Through betrayal, pain, and loss.

Lord, transfigure our perception
    With the purest light that shines,
And recast our life’s intentions
    To the shape of Your designs,
Till we seek no other glory
    Than what lies past Calv’ry’s hill
And our living and our dying
    And our rising by Your will.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I played this tonight on the piano while warming up for Wednesday night Vespers. This is becoming one of my favorite hymns and I would love to find the mp3 for this.

Talked to Pastor Kuhlman and we're going to include it on Transformation Sunday.