Learning Where to Look
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“Do not cling to the vision; return with it.” — a paraphrase often used in Zen teaching
We are living in a week thick with light.
For Christians, this Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday, the moment when Jesus leads his friends up the mountain, and for a brief, overwhelming instant, they see him radiant, luminous, unmistakably more than they had understood. They want to build shelters around the moment, to keep it contained, to make the brightness permanent. Instead, the vision passes. They must walk back down the mountain and return to the long work of love, justice, and suffering.
Yesterday, Buddhist monks (and their sweet dog) walking for Peace arrived in Washington, D.C. after months of walking across the country. They carried no demands. They carried no threat. They carried their bodies, their breath, their attention, and a message of compassion in a world shaped by speed, domination, and fear. Their arrival was another form of light—disciplined, patient, embodied.
And in the days ahead, the sky itself will offer a lesson. On February 17, a solar eclipse will move across our field of vision, interrupting the ordinary dominance of the sun. The light will not disappear. It will change. Shadows will sharpen. The world will feel briefly unfamiliar. And then the sun will return, unchanged, while we are left changed by having seen it differently.
These moments call to mind a simple teaching from Zen Buddhism. A teacher points toward the moon so that a student might learn where to look. The teacher warns: do not mistake the finger for the moon. The finger is not the point. The moon is.
It is such a small teaching, but it cuts cleanly through our time.
The Transfiguration was never meant to be worshiped as an event. It was a finger pointing to a deeper reality: that love shines even when the world is violent, that truth radiates even when power distorts it, that glory does not cancel suffering but accompanies it. The mistake the disciples almost make is wanting to stay with the brightness instead of letting it reorient how they live below.
The monks walking into Washington are also not the point. They are not performing holiness. They are pointing. Their bodies say: there is another way to inhabit this world. There is a way to move slowly, to refuse dehumanization, to practice attention as resistance. If we stop with admiration or sentiment, we miss what they are pointing toward.
Even the eclipse carries this teaching. We are tempted to stare at the shadow, or to fixate on the disruption. But the eclipse is not the story. It is an invitation to notice how easily our perception narrows, how quickly we forget that light exists even when it is partially hidden.
This is where I feel the ache of our moment.
So much of our public life trains us to mistake the finger for the moon. We fixate on personalities instead of patterns. We argue over symbols while the deeper harm continues untouched. We exhaust ourselves reacting to each flash of darkness instead of tending the sources of light that sustain us.
Transfiguration Sunday reminds us that clarity comes in flashes, not because truth is fleeting, but because our capacity to hold it is. The monks remind us that transformation is not dramatic; it is practiced step by step, breath by breath. The eclipse reminds us that obscuring light does not destroy it.
Together, they ask us a harder question than we often want to answer: What are you actually looking at?
Are you staring at the noise, the outrage, the collapse? Or are you allowing yourself to be reoriented by what those moments reveal about courage, compassion, and responsibility?
The invitation of this week is not escape. It is alignment.
To let moments of radiance change how we walk back down the mountain.
To let embodied compassion teach us how to live among one another.
To trust that even when light is partially hidden, it still governs the sky.
The moon remains whether or not we notice it. The question is whether we will keep learning where to look.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where, right now, do I feel drawn to stare at the disruption rather than attend to what it reveals?
What moments of light—small or fleeting—have recently reoriented me, even briefly?
How might I carry what I have glimpsed back into the ordinary places where love and responsibility are practiced?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer for Reorientation
Holy Presence, You meet us in flashes of clarity and long stretches of ordinary life. You reveal light on mountaintops and in the slow work of compassion. When we become distracted by shadows, steady our gaze. When we mistake symbols for substance, teach us where to look. When the world feels dimmed by fear or noise, remind us that light has not left us. Give us the courage to walk back down the mountain changed. Give us the patience to practice love step by step. Give us eyes to see what endures, even when it is partially hidden. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Practicing Attention
Sometime today, pause for five minutes and choose one simple focus: your breath, the sky, a candle flame, or the sound of footsteps.
As thoughts arise—news, worries, plans—do not push them away. Notice them, then gently return your attention to what you chose.
At the end, ask yourself: What am I being invited to notice more carefully in my life right now?
Carry that question with you as you move through the rest of the day.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
February 10, 2026, 12pm ET - My team and I are launching a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. I will be leading a book study on Brian McLaren’s book, Life After Doom. Register here for the onboarding call and to learn more.
February 19, 2026 (next session) - On Feb 5, Margaret Wheatley and and I launched a new online course called “Leading with Spirit,” a six-session journey into soul-grounded leadership designed to deepen your trust in guidance, nurture perseverance, and rekindle imaginal wisdom for our fractured world. It’s not too late to join. Take a look at the course outline. We are really excited and hope you can join! Scholarship are available if needed. Learn more here!
March, 2026 - Join Our “Building a Culture of Leadership Within Congregations” Cohort facilitated by Rabbi Benjamin Ross and me! A two-session course for ministers and faith leaders ready to strengthen how their congregations and ministries identify, develop, and support leaders. Learn more here.
March 17, 23, 31 and April 7, 2026 - Mark your calendars! Matthew Fox and I will be hosting another 4-part series on “Visions for the Common Good.” We are finalizing details now, and the registration page will open soon.
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
The need for us to persevere and contribute grows ever more challenging as the horror and cruelty escalates, created by leaders with “malevolent incompetence.” Dr. Margaret Wheatley is offering a “Bundle for Good” for shipping within the U.S. She will send you seven copies of Perseverance, and one copy of her book of poems, Opening to the World as It Is. She’s including the poetry book as another means to support you personally. You can learn more here.
The Convergence Music Project is hosting a songwriting event on March 19-21, 2026 in Nashville. No songwriting experience is required, so feel warmly welcome even if you've never written a song before. There will be plenty of content also to further educate, inspire, and develop the gifts of advanced songwriters as well. Learn more.
So many of us are inspired by all that is happening in Minneapolis, even if we are horrified by what the federal government has unleashed in that city. Here is a great article breaking down the “Blueprint for Resistance.”
Millions of people are seeking training in becoming Legal Observers for their communities vulnerable to ICE. Here is a recorded training that is helpful produced by the team at No Kings. If you know of other trainings, please post in the comments below.
The phenomenal team of “Singing Resistance” has gifted all of us a songbook of protest songs that groups are now using across the world. Here is the link. I am marching around my house singing these throughout the day. My dogs are very confused.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
Even when obscured,
“sources of light... sustain us.”
Aligned, we too shine.
Making notes in my morning journal about this wonderful piece. Thank you.
I used to rankle when preachers/teachers would mock Peter for wanting to build the shelters, saying he was always too impulsive, too arrogant, too mouthy. Well now I can see that these preachers and teachers likely didn't understand what Jesus was trying to convey either. We, unlike Peter, have had the benefit of 2,000 years to try to figure scenarios like these in scripture and we often still don't get it right. I so appreciate your insightful words.