Today's Scripture Readings
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 (NRSV)
Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:"To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all that live.The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth--when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world's first bits of soil.When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master worker;and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race."
Canticle 13 (The Book of Common Prayer, p.90).
Romans 5:1-5 (NRSV)
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
John 16:12-15 (NRSV)
Jesus said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
Blog Reflection
I recently had an experience on Facebook.
Among the many posts that are appear on my feed from time to time are written to say things like, "If you love me, please copy and past this message in your status and post it. I bet most of you won't. If you do copy and post this message as I have asked, I will know that you love me."
I really do not like posts such as that. Among my many reasons is that it encourages us to type and post something like that on Facebook than it is to say such things in person. I also feel that such posts are suggestive of manipulating readers to say what the author whats to hear, rather than giving the other person the option to say something on their own. Lastly, they often make me wonder about the genuineness of the original writer of the post and those who copy, paste and repost them. Is it just to get it out of the way? Is it real and heart felt? Do we really know? I am not so sure, nor can I be. This is why I tend not to copy and paste them. I will sometimes write the individual a private message to say it for real to the other person, or simply not pay much attention.
This past week, I did a whole 80 degree turn on one particular post. The post read, "If you call yourself my family hit the like button and copy this on your status and when I see your name I'll know who my real family is, blood or not... Here we go!!😀" Why I chose to pay attention to his and have opinions and ignore the others is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. Well, I copied and pasted the message. I got many really nice comments to the post on my own timeline. One individual was quick-witted enough to make a comment about how he does not copy and past such things followed by an emoticon with a winking eye. My response to him was that I agreed and understood, but that this was one of those moments when I decided to do differently. Then came one comment by someone I have rubbed shoulders with on any number of occasions. The individual held nothing against me, but simply told me that she considers me part of her family. Well, let me just say that that response put this Benedictine in my place as to how much I have to learn about humility. It also provided me with an opportunity to do some genuine but tearful reconciliation with the other individual. Something I did that was different than what I would normally do, became a catalyst for the Holy Spirit to bring about some forgiveness, healing and reconciliation for both of us. It is something that I cannot adequately put into words, nor completely understand. I can only write the experience of what happened; then hope that others understand what I am writing.
The great mystery of the Holy Trinity can be talked about, but can never be explained adequately or logically. The Trinity of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit; or Mother, Child and Comforter or any other name is simply beyond our human limitations. They are also incomplete and inadequate names. We celebrate this great mystery every time we celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism. The Priest and congregants make the sign of the Cross with the Name of the Persons of the Trinity at various points in our worship. Theologians of the past, present and undoubtedly in the future will write books, internet presentations, and just like me; write blog posts to meditate on this incredible part of our faith. There are those who believe in the Trinity and what it means. There are those who are not so sure. Still, there are others who just do not and cannot believe in such a strange concept as one God in Three Persons.
There is one matter about the Trinity that is not written about anywhere near as much. The Holy Trinity is more about relationships than it is about theology. It is more about how God relates to God's Self and everyone of us. As with many pieces of our Christian Faith which we confess in our many creeds and prayers, if we do not live into those mysteries with love and compassion for each other, the Trinity is just hogwash talk. It is the ministry and mission of Christians to bring forth the presence of God the Holy Trinity, by living in reverence and consciousness of God's presence on others who are different from ourselves.
In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit "will lead you into all truth." Jesus did not say that we would be given a truth that is once for all, stagnant and ever left in Church History and ancient Tradition. Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit will (and does) lead us beyond our intellectual or theological dogmas, to a living reality of the God-Head present in every place and every person we encounter. Each place, culture, person will show us a different view of God that we never understood before. Every opportunity whether it coincides with our status quo or planned steps or not; is a moment for the Holy Trinity to live God's full reality as we allow ourselves to be led into one truth and another.
In recent weeks and days, our media is inundated with the debate about who should use which public restroom based on one's gender identity/expression. The debate and those using transgender people as their scapegoat to demean and denigrate them; is based on ignorance and fear. The news that one Christianist organization has been sending men into a women's restroom to help create a fear about sexual assault is just outrageously wrong. It is fear mongering and the invasion of a transgender person's dignity, simply to make a statement as to what genitalia should be relieving themselves in what restroom.
Honestly, do we really think the Triune God cares that much about such things? I think the Holy Trinity is more interested in what we are saying about God when we marginalize and stereotype any person by the way of spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse. Is it any wonder why people shrug their shoulders at any form of organized religion?
Maybe as we meditate on who God is in the Holy Trinity and how God is moving on our hearts with regards to our relationships with each other, we might discover our true selves. Perhaps we might hear the Holy Spirit leading us into new truths that we would have never thought about before. Maybe, just maybe we might receive the Holy Spirit's conversion in our hearts to learn to live into the Mystery of the Triune God-Head and make God known by love and compassion. Maybe, the world would be a better place, and Christians will give Jesus Christ a good Name.
What do you hear the Holy Trinity saying to you?
Amen.
Prayers
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us
your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to
acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the
power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep
us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to
see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with
the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, p.228).
Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal
Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in
Trinity of Persons: Give us grace to continue steadfast in the
confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign, one God,
now and for ever. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, p.251).
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed
for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one:
Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and
obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit,
that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your
Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in
the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, p.255).
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