It happened on perhaps the best day of his life so far'the day before the day Jesus would make the journey to the worst day of his life. Jesus and three of his disciples gathered on a high mountain where Jesus was transfigured right before their eyes. The voice of God spoke three thunderously piercing words into he minds and hearts of those disciples. They were as follows:

LISTEN TO HIM.

Those words now come to us, the present-day disciples of Jesus. The forty days of Lent open up a journey for the top of Transfiguration Mountain to the bottom of the Valley of the Cross. These forty days provide forty steps, if you will, to lean in and listen deeply to Jesus. As we do so we find the way of the cross is the road to resurrection. Listening to Jesus—it's our highest calling to the lowest place where we discover our lives transformed and our worst days breaking forth into our best life.