Talking Trinity #2
One of my heroes, theologian Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM is coming to our Castelot Scripture Conference this summer and I love her insightful statement about the Trinity. She said “God is not two men and a bird!” A good place to begin I’d say!
Before we jump into some heavy lifting, let’s plant our feet on some relatively firm ground. Theologian Michael Himes says that when we hear the word “God,” something goes on in our minds. Now, however wonderful, however deep, rich, powerful, consoling, however philosophically and metaphysically precise, however scripturally sound and orthodox, whatever that idea of God that is in our mind - it is NOT God. And THIS is really the most important thing to know about God: that what we have in our mind when we hear or speak the word “God” is only a very imprecise image of God. Us trying to figure out everything there is to know about God is like an ant trying to learn astrophysics. We are way out of our depth, to put it mildly.
That being said, our scriptures tell us that “God is love.” Himes says this “is the least wrong thing we can say about God.” As Christians, we believe that love is the core of God’s divine essence. This is a very important truth to understand because the Trinity is one of the most confusing and misunderstood concepts in our faith, but if we have ever known love in our life, we can at the very least grasp at an inkling of who God is for us. Because as another hero of mine, Elizabeth Johnson declares, at the root of ALL our doctrine is an encounter with the holy mystery that is God. Our doctrines are not just speculative mental acrobatics but rather an attempt to express a truth we have experienced.
The Trinity is an image, a concept of God that developed historically out of our collective experience. The first Christian believers were faithful to their Jewish monotheistic tradition and without abandoning Yahweh, the God of Israel, they pondered and tried to make sense of their experience of this same God in the person and mission of Jesus Christ - and then once again coming to know this same God in the Holy Spirit in the days following Pentecost.
In the doctrine of the Trinity, and why perhaps it is a non-negotiable for every Christian believer, God has shown Godself to be a community of three persons, equal in every way, living together in loving, mutual relationship - and somehow in the life, death and rising of Jesus we too have been swooped up into this communion, invited into this love of God that is gratuitous, overflowing, and life-giving.
“In the deepest mystery of his being, God is an intimate relationship, a fellowship, a community of love.” (Johnson) So, when pondering the Trinity, I think there are two great places to start. First is from a deep place of epistemological humility. In other words we have to be able to say and believe “There is no way I can comprehend God with my little brain” And truly, if we could understand God, then God would not be a God worth worshipping, right? “A God comprehended is no God at all.” (Tersteegen)
Secondly, our very own Catechism states that the Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life. It is the source of all other mysteries of Christian faith, the light that enlightens them. So, if we truly believe that the least wrong thing we can grasp about God is that God is a community of equal, self-giving love then – as yet another hero of mine - Catherine LaCugna says – in the Trinity humanity is being invited to ponder “How are we to live and relate to others so as to be most Godlike?
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Saturday, February 10, 2018
#131 - Talking Trinity 1
Your Crazy Catholic Question column has been a tad boring for a few months now. What’s the scoop?
This question was lovingly submitted by my husband who, frankly, even on my best day, finds my column “too Catholic” for his taste. I’m lucky (and annoyed) to have such a straightforward, “borderline-heathen” critic in my own home. But, he does keeps me honest.
So my aim is to retire my CCQ column for a bit and explore with you in my little 600 words in the bulletin each week something that very few Christians find any relevance in for their lives, but yet we claim is at the very center of our faith. Something that in years past, debate and disagreement about has sparked wars and schisms in our church, but now is hardly ever talked about at weekly bible studies, book discussions, or faith formation classes. Even our beloved CGS (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) does not have a lesson on it! What am I talking about? The Trinity. For the next six weeks of Lent, Let’s Talk Trinity.
And here is why I think “Talking Trinity” might be helpful. Because we need to face the facts: Jesus has officially been confiscated. His teachings have been twisted by corrupt politicians and wayward religious leaders with the result that there is an enormous amount of errant teaching being attributed to him. Good people (especially young people) immediately recognize questionable integrity and statements void of truth – even (and maybe especially) those that are spoken by our so-called “leaders” who profess to believe and serve Jesus.
As a result, even the utterance of the name “Jesus” in any public forum is often received with disdain; perceived by most as distasteful and inappropriate; sometimes even more offensive than the strongest of curse words. Even I – your Director of Religious Education – sometimes find discussion about “religion” repellant! Me!! Someone whose work it is to draw people together at church, finds talk of church off-putting! Quite a conundrum I’d say.
Case in point - the other night on my commute home I was flipping through the radio stations and landed on the judgmental churchy jargon of some evangelist and seriously, it turned my stomach. It made me want to run as fast as I possibly could in the other direction from the “Jesus” he was laying down. The dominant “Jesus and Me” theology is ideal for the children in our atria but is woefully inadequate for the challenges that we are facing as adults in our society. Even the most nominal believer recognizes how this theology can arrest our development and lead us in the wrong direction; away from effective collaboration as the body of Christ toward more isolation…away from respectful dialogue and toward more individual opinions and ideology…in essence away from the mystery of the “God who in Godself is a community of persons” to the impossible task of being a Christian alone.
In short - Jesus, a hero by any measure (even for those who do not recognize him as God), is badly in need of a new Public Relations manager. The true beauty and force of his teaching is either being romanticized, tamed and individualized to the point where it has no punch OR being blatantly misrepresented and misappropriated in today’s sometimes vacuous culture of tidal-wave force.
Perhaps the seed of well-received discussion about Jesus has died. And maybe, just maybe, God wants to grow something new from the death of this seed. At the very least, I think we need a little subterfuge. So this week I have outlined some of our challenges, but in the weeks to come I hope we can explore together some possible avenues that can lead to more fruitful dialogue about where God may be drawing us and inviting us to grow.
Respectfully submitted by Lisa Brown, comments welcome at dre@ctredeemer.org.
This question was lovingly submitted by my husband who, frankly, even on my best day, finds my column “too Catholic” for his taste. I’m lucky (and annoyed) to have such a straightforward, “borderline-heathen” critic in my own home. But, he does keeps me honest.
So my aim is to retire my CCQ column for a bit and explore with you in my little 600 words in the bulletin each week something that very few Christians find any relevance in for their lives, but yet we claim is at the very center of our faith. Something that in years past, debate and disagreement about has sparked wars and schisms in our church, but now is hardly ever talked about at weekly bible studies, book discussions, or faith formation classes. Even our beloved CGS (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) does not have a lesson on it! What am I talking about? The Trinity. For the next six weeks of Lent, Let’s Talk Trinity.
And here is why I think “Talking Trinity” might be helpful. Because we need to face the facts: Jesus has officially been confiscated. His teachings have been twisted by corrupt politicians and wayward religious leaders with the result that there is an enormous amount of errant teaching being attributed to him. Good people (especially young people) immediately recognize questionable integrity and statements void of truth – even (and maybe especially) those that are spoken by our so-called “leaders” who profess to believe and serve Jesus.
As a result, even the utterance of the name “Jesus” in any public forum is often received with disdain; perceived by most as distasteful and inappropriate; sometimes even more offensive than the strongest of curse words. Even I – your Director of Religious Education – sometimes find discussion about “religion” repellant! Me!! Someone whose work it is to draw people together at church, finds talk of church off-putting! Quite a conundrum I’d say.
Case in point - the other night on my commute home I was flipping through the radio stations and landed on the judgmental churchy jargon of some evangelist and seriously, it turned my stomach. It made me want to run as fast as I possibly could in the other direction from the “Jesus” he was laying down. The dominant “Jesus and Me” theology is ideal for the children in our atria but is woefully inadequate for the challenges that we are facing as adults in our society. Even the most nominal believer recognizes how this theology can arrest our development and lead us in the wrong direction; away from effective collaboration as the body of Christ toward more isolation…away from respectful dialogue and toward more individual opinions and ideology…in essence away from the mystery of the “God who in Godself is a community of persons” to the impossible task of being a Christian alone.
In short - Jesus, a hero by any measure (even for those who do not recognize him as God), is badly in need of a new Public Relations manager. The true beauty and force of his teaching is either being romanticized, tamed and individualized to the point where it has no punch OR being blatantly misrepresented and misappropriated in today’s sometimes vacuous culture of tidal-wave force.
Perhaps the seed of well-received discussion about Jesus has died. And maybe, just maybe, God wants to grow something new from the death of this seed. At the very least, I think we need a little subterfuge. So this week I have outlined some of our challenges, but in the weeks to come I hope we can explore together some possible avenues that can lead to more fruitful dialogue about where God may be drawing us and inviting us to grow.
Respectfully submitted by Lisa Brown, comments welcome at dre@ctredeemer.org.
Saturday, February 3, 2018
#130 - Resolutions
So, how are your New Year’s Resolutions going so far?
Well, like many of you perhaps, I have good days and bad days. I start the year with great hope and enthusiasm that inevitably gets tempered by the realities and demands of daily life. Luckily, we all get a second chance for a sincere metanoia since Lent is right around the corner! So, perhaps we can sit down with our families in the next week or so (Ash Weds is Feb. 14th) and discuss how we might live out these spiritual resolutions below in a concrete way during our sacred season of Lent.
1. I will live in the present moment. I will not obsess about the past or worry about the future.
2. I will cultivate the art of making connections. I will pay attention to how my life is intimately related to all life on the planet.
3. I will be thankful for all the blessings in my life. I will spell out my days with a grammar of gratitude.
4. I will practice hospitality in a world where too often strangers are feared, enemies are hated, and the "other" is shunned. I will welcome guests and alien ideas with graciousness.
5. I will seek liberty and justice for all. I will work for a free and a fair world.
6. I will add to the planet's fund of good will by practicing little acts of kindness, brief words of encouragement, and manifold expressions of courtesy.
7. I will cultivate the skill of deep listening. I will remember that all things in the world want to be heard, as do the many voices inside me.
8. I will practice reverence for life by seeing the sacred in, with, and under all things of the world.
9. I will give up trying to hide, deny, or escape from my imperfections. I will listen to what my shadow side has to say to me.
10. I will be willing to learn from the spiritual teachers all around me, however unlikely or unlike me they may be.
* Taken from New Year's Resolutions based on spiritual practices in the Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy by Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat: www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/alphabet.
Well, like many of you perhaps, I have good days and bad days. I start the year with great hope and enthusiasm that inevitably gets tempered by the realities and demands of daily life. Luckily, we all get a second chance for a sincere metanoia since Lent is right around the corner! So, perhaps we can sit down with our families in the next week or so (Ash Weds is Feb. 14th) and discuss how we might live out these spiritual resolutions below in a concrete way during our sacred season of Lent.
1. I will live in the present moment. I will not obsess about the past or worry about the future.
2. I will cultivate the art of making connections. I will pay attention to how my life is intimately related to all life on the planet.
3. I will be thankful for all the blessings in my life. I will spell out my days with a grammar of gratitude.
4. I will practice hospitality in a world where too often strangers are feared, enemies are hated, and the "other" is shunned. I will welcome guests and alien ideas with graciousness.
5. I will seek liberty and justice for all. I will work for a free and a fair world.
6. I will add to the planet's fund of good will by practicing little acts of kindness, brief words of encouragement, and manifold expressions of courtesy.
7. I will cultivate the skill of deep listening. I will remember that all things in the world want to be heard, as do the many voices inside me.
8. I will practice reverence for life by seeing the sacred in, with, and under all things of the world.
9. I will give up trying to hide, deny, or escape from my imperfections. I will listen to what my shadow side has to say to me.
10. I will be willing to learn from the spiritual teachers all around me, however unlikely or unlike me they may be.
* Taken from New Year's Resolutions based on spiritual practices in the Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy by Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat: www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/alphabet.
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