By Father Casey

Flannery O’Connor tells a story about a time that a man from the telephone company came out to do some work on her telephone. After the man finished his work, he noticed that she kept peacocks, and so he spent the next 20 minutes trying to coax one of the birds to put up its big beautiful plumage. She insisted that all he needed to do was wait, and the bird would eventually display, but he got bored and climbed in his truck to drive away. Well, sure enough, at that moment the bird fanned out his glorious tail feathers in a magnificent spread. O’Connor called to the man and got him to come back to see it. “Well, what do you think of it?” she asked.

“Never saw such long ugly legs,” the man said. “I bet that rascal could outrun a bus.”

You know, sometimes we shouldn’t say the first thing that comes into our minds. Sometimes we should really just stand still and pay attention and keep our mouths closed. Sometimes the best thing we can do is be quiet.

This weekend we will once again celebrate the Transfiguration of Christ, a story at the heart of our life as a church. It is our “Feast of Title,” and we’re going to do everything we can to make the virtual service on Sunday special. So, I hope you’ll join us on Facebook for the live premier at 9:00 a.m. or on YouTube anytime on Sunday.

Well, in the story, Peter, James, and John go up a mountain to pray with Jesus, and while they’re there, the glory of Jesus’ divinity is revealed. “The appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white,” Luke writes. And then, as though the scene needed more splendor and majesty, Moses and Elijah show up, two of the greatest and most revered figures from Israel’s history, and they begin to talk with the dazzling Christ. The whole scene is utterly profound. It’s one of those moments that make you speechless, because to say anything would break the power of the moment.

And yet, what does Peter do? He opens his mouth. And while what he says is not quite as ridiculous as the telephone repair man gazing upon a peacock in display and commenting on its legs, it’s not a whole lot better. Essentially, when faced with the display of the Lord’s glory, rather than simply experience it, Peter babbles the very first things that pop into his head. “Lord, it’s a good thing I’m here! I know what you need, you need me to make some tents for you…yea, that’s it, tents! Then you can do whatever it is you’re doing, but you’d have, you know, a place to be…or something.” Peter is offering what we more commonly refer to as “word vomit.” He didn’t know what to do or what to say, and yet he couldn’t seem to stop himself from saying the first thing that popped in his head.

Sometimes we shouldn’t say the first thing that comes into our minds. Sometimes we should really just stand still and pay attention and keep our mouths closed. Sometimes the best thing we can do is be quiet.

We live in an age that values talking and prioritizes noise. We talk about everything, and when we’re not talking, we’re posting, and when we’re not posting, we’re commenting, and when we’re not commenting, we’re liking someone else’s posts or comments. Our society rewards people who have a quick remark, a clever Tweet, a biting retort. But a whole lot of it isn’t terribly thoughtful, and too much of it seems like it’s the first thing that jumped into someone’s head. And perhaps even more problematic, for all the talking we do, we forgetting how listen.

That fateful day on a high mountain in Palestine, while Peter was babbling, a cloud descended upon them and a voice says, “This is my son, the beloved, listen to him.” Stop talking so much, God says. Stop filling every moment with noise and chatter. God literally has to interrupt Peter and remind him to not always say the first thing that comes into his mind. Be quiet and listen.

I believe God is eager for us to do a lot more listening. We need to be quiet, and resist the overwhelming compulsion to speak all the time. We need to model a different sort of presence in this world with our words and our ears, because I am convinced that the poisonous stuff we pass off as dialogue in our society these days will not begin to change until Christians begin to model a holier way of speaking and hearing.

So, let’s listen when we’re conversing with someone, rather than spend the time they’re talking thinking up what we want to say in response. And instead of hurrying to post about the thing we’re doing, consider that some moments in life are gifts just for us to enjoy, rather than photo ops for our social media accounts. And consider that maybe, just maybe, not every “wrong” thing posted on social media requires our immediate rebuttal.

Friends, in our divided and toxically-charged society, we can share more of the healing and holiness of God by actually saying less and listening more: to Jesus and to each other.

Flannery O’Connor, “Living with Peacocks,” https://holidaymag.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/living-with-a-peacock-by-flannery-oconnor-september-1961/