Do you bound out of bed each morning eager to get to work ….. enthusiastic about all the challenges that lie ahead? Well probably not! Life is a series of highs and lows, but we all know that the ‘highs’ are few and far between. For most of us life is a series of chores and we can often feel burdened by drudgery and frustration.

In today’s gospel reading, Peter James and John are feeling demoralised and fearful about talk of Jesus’ imminent death. Perhaps the disciples felt that the goal they had been working towards was not the goal of which Jesus is now talking. We have all felt like this at some time. Even the most motivated amongst us will slump from time to time. We might all have felt at some point debilitated by fear and anxiety, or overwhelmed by tiredness. At times like these, a life mentor might advise us to re-visualise our goals. We might be advised to find inspiration and get excited. We might be advised to focus on our most important priorities and not set too many goals which will  eventually sap all our energy. Funnily enough, two thousand years before the terms ‘life mentor’ or ‘life coach’ were coined, these were exactly the strategies that Jesus used to motivate Peter James and John in this difficult period of their discipleship. Jesus leads them up a high mountain where they see a vision of a transfigured Jesus in dazzling white accompanied by Moses and Elijah.

Peter, James and John had a moment of revelation that day on the mountain top, and although they could not capture that moment by erecting tents as Peter proposes, they had that glimpse of glory to  remember and keep with them forever through the testing times ahead.

Christians do not have a quick fix remedy for making problems in life go away, but we share the same  motivating vision of God’s kingdom as we struggle with life’s ‘lows’.