It was the fall of 1993 when I sat on a friend's sofa and knew in my heart that God had called me to a certain job in a certain place to do something important.

And I needed to experience that, because the job I was being called to would be fraught with difficulties, challenges, and complexities that would seriously test my decision.

You might call that moment on the couch a mountaintop experience, a time in which I felt particularly close to to God and how God was directing me.

Can you name a time in your life in which you felt the same thing? Tuned in to the transcendent, particularly close to the one whose voice echoes most deepest in your soul?

We call it a mountaintop experience because we see something similar in Sunday's gospel, when Jesus and his closest disciples ascend a mountain and Jesus is transfigured, his face changed, his clothes a dazzling white, and he finds himself in conversation with Moses and Elijah, before the audible voice of God speaks from the heavens.

God gives us the these moments of affirmation, because God knows there will be moments of doubt.

God gives us these moments of unforgettable bliss because God knows there will be moments of unendurable pain.

God gives us these moments of clarity and insight because God knows there will be moments of confusion and occlusion.

Mountain top experiences are as rare as they are impactful. 

That's why it's so important for you and me to remember; remember that we do not go through this drama alone, that the world is made up of much more than the things we can see, feel, and touch. 

That there is more going on than we will ever know.

 That there are saints conspiring on our behalf, loved ones in a different realm plotting our advance, unseen allies who work day and night for our goodness and wholeness.

So friends let us remember our transfigurations - our mountain top experiences - they are reminders that God is near - and that the darkness in the valley that can surround us - will not last.