Saint David calls on us in our time, as he in his, to be joyful, keep the faith and to remember the little things. It was his joyful, right glorifying faith that transformed the wooded valley of the Afon Alun into a heaven on earth and transfigured the starry stones of the crystal headland into an earthly heaven. Joy opens the heart to light and glory. Keeping the faith is not narrow, shallow belief in credal formulae but unconditioned trust in Christ the Great Peace to complete us in our incompleteness, remembering the little things that in our distraction and our dissipation we overlook. The littlest thing of all is the no-thing that communicates God’s presence in our midst, God’s Holy Name ‘I AM,’ which appears so little that we easily confuse ‘I AM’ with ourselves, causing endless division: separation between ourselves and God, splits within ourselves and schisms between each another. Remembering the little things includes the mustard grain which seeds the Kingdom, granting safe haven to everyone and everything in a tree of light and glory. Keeping the faith is joyous trust that wisdom knows as she is known, that light reveals light in light and glory opens to glory through glory. To keep the faith is not mere belief in the Trinity but life lived as way and truth in the Thrice Holy Name.
When elders like Saint David and saints like Aedan Madoc hand on the mysteries of the Kingdom, the very stones resound like stars and the earthly sanctuary is endlessly renewed by heaven. This uncreated creative energy deifies everyone and everything so that the Alun river and the monastery vale never cease to reverberate with the Word, conspiring with the Spirit to inspire the renewal of the tradition for generations to come. There is no end to the uncreated creativity of the Great Trust that sustains the Great Peace in every age. The wisdom of Christ crucified raises death to life eternally by unveiling the glory of unselfish love poured out to transfigure us in its enlightening embrace. We live day by day in the light of love’s glory, transfigured by the wisdom of the Cross. As friends of his transfiguration we partake in the uncreated light of his transfiguration. Dwindling congregations in a secular age do not have the last word. Resurrection transfigures death and unveils sacred tradition as the Spirit’s revelation of Christ in glory, opening glory to glory without end.
The legacy of saints like David is so much more than a convenient tourist attraction sustaining long winters with proceeds from relentless summer crowds. Stars shimmer under every stone not because a cathedral is an architectural gem but because this cathedral is one way of remembering the little things, rejoicing in the Name and keeping the Great Trust. It has been a centre of pilgrimage for well over a thousand years but pilgrimage is more than a visit to an ancient sanctuary. It is a way to find God in the heart and every illumined heart is a living sanctuary where stars wed stones and earth weds heaven in the hallowed Name. Friends of transfiguration spring up in every generation as seers of the Name, transmitting wisdom mysteries to renew the tradition. Fear’s compulsive resistance shuts out light but love sustains a hidden companionship of openness to transfiguring joy. The Alun river flows on without hindrance through old monastery stones to Porth Clais and the sea. The witness of Saint David flows on too, even in our very secular age, embracing what is of inexhaustible value whilst transforming what is dead. There is no end to the uncreated creativity of the Holy Spirit’s witness, hidden under every stone. Little things remembered sustain the Great Trust, opening hearts through joy in the Name to wisdom and the Great Peace.