The Feast of the Holy Trinity Year C - conclusion

The thunderstorm rolled in about 4 AM and shook the double wide that functions as support staff housing for Ebert Ranch. Lisa will tell you that I usually sleep through thunderstorms (unless Mr. Spud steps on me trying to get to safety under the covers) but this was the kind of strike that could wake the dead or give Mr. Spud a heart attack. It was still raining and rumbling at noon and by late afternoon the horses were drinking out of the windmill pond that was dry as a bone yesterday. By mid week Ebert ranch will be ablaze with color as the wild flowers that have been waiting for just such a soaking will take full advantage of the rain. I'm tempted to do a Trinity two step and make some kind of inadequate analogy but let's just say the wisdom established before time that is the majestic name above all the earth who justifies us through faith by the truth that we cannot fully bear is as terrifying as a lightning strike that makes the air sizzle, as welcome as a pond full of water in a year long drought and as indescribably beautiful as a Texas Hill Country ranch blanketed in wildflowers.

The Feast of the Holy Trinity Year C - John 16:12-16

John 16:12-15
I'm blogging from the Headwaters Saloon in Harper, Texas after my first day working horses with wrangler Lorianne at Ebert Ranch. It's taken a shower and a Shiner to get me thinking about the Trinity even though I rode three different horses today and I suppose green broke Miss Candy was wild enough to be the Spirit to Cisco the Father and Tom Too the Son. But that's the problem with the three in one and one in three Trinity. It takes some thinking and is still beyond what mortal minds can bear. Of course everything about God is beyond our frame of reference since God is not like us. Even the flesh and blood Son who was like us in every way was "without sin" (Hebrews 4:15) which means he's pretty much not like us at all. At Calvary we make the intern preach on Trinity Sunday so that we can make sure he or she is not a heretic. It's a sign of progress that we can joke about such a thing rather than banishing or worse burning at the stake those whose musings on the mystery stray from the status quo. Maybe we should just say the Trinity was God's idea and not ours and explaining the nature of God by means of analogy is always lacking. So the Father Son Spirit beyond our ability to bear comes down to lead us into the only truth that counts. God is love and the best way to understand that is for us to love one another and not worry too much if our description of the Trinity canters into an equestrian modalism.

2010 post

The Feast of the Holy Trinity Year C - Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1-5

The second article of the faith tells the story of the One not created who was before time began and yet chose to let go of glory and empty himself to be found in human likeness. This is where the Trinity gets tricky and the creeds only state the "what" leaving humans to figure out the "how", which is where we get into trouble. But if the unbroken unity of the Trinity is love for the children of creation then Father Son Spirit are equally engaged in the work of redemption, though it would appear that the Son does the heavy lifting. In the person of Jesus the One uncreated becomes weak to save the weak, becomes sin to save sinners, and surrendering his life forgives his enemies. The image of an angry God now appeased by a human sacrifice, albeit God in human flesh is not what Paul means by being saved from the wrath of God, for God’s love is proved by the death of Christ and wrath and love cannot coexist. God is the only actor on the stage of salvation. While we were ungodly, while we were weak, while we were sinners, while we were God’s enemies, God died for us, ahead of us, instead of us so that by the life of God the love of God might be poured into our hearts through the Spirit. This One in Three and Three in One, Father Son Spirit, dwelling within us produces hope that does not disappoint by enduring suffering and reflecting the character of Christ, which is love.

The Feast of the Holy Trinity Year C - Psalm 8

Psalm 8

The "work of the heavens" wreaking havoc on Moore, Oklahoma calls into question just how mindful God might be about mortals. But then whenever humans suffer sudden destruction God’s providence is almost always called into question. The ability to hold onto faith without minimizing the reality of loss does not diminish the majestic name above all the earth. Indeed, it is because the God who in the psalmist’s imagination created the very winds that wiped away Moore, OK was himself swept away by death on a cross that we can claim God knows our pain and shares our suffering. It could be that you prefer a majestic name that remains above all the earth but I am going to hold onto a God come down whose hands and feet are fastened to wood so that mine are set free from trying to understand why things happen trusting that in the end the Majestic name knows ours.

The Feast of the Holy Trinity Year C - Proverbs 8:1-4. 22-31

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
I’m not a big fan of the book of Proverbs even though there is certain comfort to addressing the complexity of life with simple sayings. Like my Facebook profile picture of the WWII British poster “Stay Calm and Carry On”. Sometimes staying calm is only achieved by denial and carrying on is a costly illusion. That being said the wisdom established from the beginning that raises her voice for all who will hear is more than a collection of memorable clichés. In the infinite mystery of the Trinity Wisdom engages the world in ways that appear as random or mere coincidence but are labeled by folks of faith as a “God thing”. By that I mean all that goes beyond our ability to fully comprehend – even if we attempt to express whatever “it” is by inadequate analogies – operates under the surface of our lives but when push comes to shove gives us the ability to keep calm and carry on. Not as denial or illusion but as the way in which confidence in the Wisdom of God gives courage to the fearful and strength to the weak. The beauty of this image is that the Holy “totally other” whispered into the silence before time a Wisdom that would become an expression of the Divine in ways that delight in our being which given human nature might be the greatest mystery of all.  
 
http://livingthelectionary.blogspot.com/2010/05/feast-of-holy-trinity-proverbs-81-4-22.html