This is my first entry in Beatitude. I imagine that I’ll
go through a process of upgrading both the writing of the entries and the look
of this blog. I trust that you will help me with the upgrades and hang in there
as I get better at creating a space for beatitude. I invite your comments and
insights as we share a place to breathe deeper and grow richer in faith.
To be Trinitarian one doesn’t have to be limited. Thinking
about God in three persons doesn’t mean that we are defining God or reducing
God into something manageable. Rather it is a way of knowing God. And it is a
mystery. The theologians I’ve read on the subject (including Gregory of
Nazianzus, Calvin, Zwigly, Luther, Barth, and others) based their Trinitarian thoughts
on scripture but always wondered about just how three could be One and the One,
three. Their conclusions were that all evidence pointed in that direction but
we were all drawn into a mystery when it comes to actually understanding it. In
my personal musings about Trinity, I like to favor the side of mystery. We are small creatures in a vast creation. I like the
humility of admitting that knowing God is mostly mystery.
Over the past several decades language has been a problem.
Some solutions to our gender-neutral struggle in describing the trinity are
promising. While the Presbyterian Church USA’s document called “Trinity: God’s
Love Overflowing” (http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/issues/trinityfinal.pdf)
affirms that using the traditional language of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”
is our anchor to scripture and to our past, it also promotes a number of other
ways to refer to the trinity. Here are most of them:
- As we worship, the triune God is the One From Whom,
the One through Whom, and the One in Whom we offer our praise (Rom 11:36).
- As we seek God’s grace and wholeness, acknowledging
the sin and brokenness in us, our human communities,
and the whole creation, the triune God is our Rainbow of Promise, our Ark of
Salvation, and our Dove of Peace (From Gail Ramshaw, Koinonia: Services and
Prayer. : Geneva Lutheran World Federation, 2004).
- As we read, proclaim, hear, and live out the message
of scripture, the triune God is known to us as Speaker, Word, and Breath (Heb 1:1; Jn 1:1; Jn
20:22; Ps 104:30).
- In baptism, the triune God is for us Overflowing Font,
Living Water, Flowing River
(Book of406 Common Worship,
p.412; Jn 4:10, 13-14; Jn 7:37).
- As we are born anew by water and the Spirit, the
triune God is Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child, and Life-giving Womb (Isa 49:15; Mt. 3:17; Isa
46:3).
- As we grow in grace, the triune God is our Sun, Light,
and Burning Ray (John of Damascus, First Apology).
- As we offer ourselves, our resources, and our
gratitude in stewardship and Eucharist, the triune God is Giver, Gift, and
Giving (Jas 1:17; Jn 3:16; 2 Cor 9:15; 1 Jn 3:24).
- In celebrating the communion of our life together in
Christ, the triune God is Lover, Beloved, and the Love and binds together Lover
and Beloved (Augustine, The Trinity).
- As members of the believing community, we acknowledge
the triune God as our Rock, Cornerstone, and Temple (Ps 28:1; Eph 2:20-21).
- When we speak of God’s wrath in the face of evil, the
triune God is for us Fire that Consumes, Sword that Divides, and Storm that
Melts Mountains (Deut 5:25; Mt 10:34-35; Ps 97:5).
- As we seek to live in faith, love, and hope, the
triune God is for us the One Who Was, the One Who Is, and the One Who Is To
Come (Rev 4:8).
Seeing the trinity as
three dancers in a circle is also a promising image. This was promoted by the
Cappadocian, Gregory of Nazianzus in the Fourth Century CE. The three persons
of the trinity dance in a circle of love. The love expands. The circle widens.
This creates room for creation. We can see ourselves, then, as creations out of
God’s overflowing love. Ultimately this aids our own self-understanding. From
the knowledge that we were created in this way, we can act out of that love and
on behalf of that love.
What do you think about the Trinity, about names of the Trinity, about God's overflowing love in which we were created, about what difference it makes to conceive of ourselves in that way?
Recent Comments