The Christian Century

The transfiguration story is dramatically staged on a mountain peak lit with a bright, even blinding light. The mountain setting is familiar: as an Arizona native, the landmarks of my world were Squaw Peak, Camelback, North Mountain and South Mountain. Long before Christianity was brought to this lower Colorado River region, the native peoples understood that these peaks were the sacred dwelling places of their gods: Shiprock for the Navajo and Hopi people; Baboquivari for the O’oodham; Picacho Peak, Pilots Knob and Muggins Peak for the Quechan people in the Imperial Valley.

“This is the place where I can listen to my maker,” one tribe member said.