Even harder than making it to the mountain top is following Jesus back into our everyday lives.  But we are called to do just that.  This year, Transfiguration Sunday falls close to the day we honor blessed Absalom Jones, a saint of the church who followed Jesus “down the mountain” to lead the Black community to care for the people of Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793.  May we, like Jones and his co-pastor Richard Allen, find strength for to serve, have our fear of the cost removed, and may our hearts may rejoice in being “as useful as possible,”  following Jesus “down the mountain” into a hurting and broken world that needs our care and witness.