Scientists reported this week the discovery of the oldest= brain ever found in a fossil. It is= 300 million years old; it measures a quarter of an inch long; it belonged to a = fish that once swam not too far from here; and it is owned by Kansas University. Now, I would neve= r say this, but some Missouri fans were surprised that a brain at KU was found to= be this large. The more we learn= about creation, the more wonderful God seems to be.

When you ask people about when, where, or how they experi= ence God, you commonly hear things about creation. They’ll tell you about walki= ng along the shore of the ocean, climbing a mountain, or listening to a rainfa= ll. Some people fear God when they experience earthquakes, hurricanes or tornados. Often the media try to separate sc= ience from religion, but people generally don’t. They experience God precisely in t= he elements that science also finds fascinating.

The transfiguration of Jesus provided such a moment for P= eter, James and John. They go up a = high mountain. Jesus and his cloth= es turn bright white. Elijah and= Moses appear and converse with him. A cloud overshadows the scene. = A voice calls out from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” The apostles experienced God in the wonders of nature – in a hike up a mountain. A similar thing happened to Moses = when he received the Ten Commandments. He went up a mountain, radiated light, entered a cloud, and heard a voice. God appeared through n= ature.

The transfiguration revealed the divinity of Jesus and th= e duty of his disciples. Jesus is divine. Elijah and Moses repr= esent all the scriptures that foreshadowed him – both the law and the prophets. They had suffered b= ecause of their faithfulness to God, and when their lives ended, many believed that one day they would return. So= me people thought Jesus was Moses or Elijah come back from the dead. These prophets appeared with him o= n the mountain to show that Jesus was not one of them, and God’s voice from= the cloud made clear who Jesus was: “This is my beloved Son.” The transfiguration revealed the divinity of Jesus. It announc= ed that he was the Son of God.

It also revealed the duty of disciples like us. Our duty is simple. “Listen to him.” Listen to Jesus. We need time for that, and a place= for that. One way to do it is to = spend time with nature. We might go= to an open field, a river, a lake, or even the upper floor of some building to ge= t a different view from the window. God can speak to us through the wonders of nature, just as he spoke to the apos= tles long ago.

By witnessing the transfiguration, Peter, James and John = saw why the Son of God came to us – to reveal the resurrection. Whenever we feel lost or afraid, concerned about how we are living or how we will die, it helps to spend time with God in whatever place we feel relaxed enough to let him speak to our heart. Lent is about fasting,= but it is also about praying. Pra= yer is nothing more than the duty of every disciple: Listen to Jesus.