Transfiguration: Armando Alemdar Ara (public domain)
Matt 17: 1-13
Erie, Pennsylvania
Starbucks
corporate living room
could be anywhere
Nat King Cole
providing background sounds
I’m pondering
a biblical summit meeting:
Christ transfigured,
locked in conversation
with Moses and Elijah,
But what they’re talking about –
I don’t know.
At the table
next to mine
a gray-haired
heavy set
black man
has made himself at home
with crossword puzzles, newspapers,
and a brown, leather bound bible – prominent.
I had a feeling
he’d know
and wouldn’t mind
my asking:
“Excuse me, are you a student of scripture?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus on the mountain;
Peter, James, and Andrew.
Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah,
what were they talking about?”
“Mathew 17,” he said,
“Peter, James, and John,” he corrected;
“Jesus was thanking them
for paving the way,
and promising them
he would continue the work.”
“The work? What work?”
“Redemption, son. It’s all about redemption."
And that was that,
a matter of fact;
Even as Nat King Cole
lost his baby
and almost lost his mind,
Even in Erie, Pennsylvania,
Even at Starbucks:
It’s all about Redemption.
