Trinitarian love - February 17

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 102; PM Psalm 107:1-32; Isa. 65:17-25; 1 Tim. 5:17-22(23-25); Mark 12:28-34

Today’s Reflection

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’  Mark 12: 28-31

Our God is a God whose very character as a Trinity is relational, and that sense of relationship is to be mirrored in the way we, as believers in and lovers of this Trinity, relate both to God (in all the Godhead’s three persons) and to our neighbor. When we think of God’s love as grounded in this sense of a relationship, then love is not a feeling but rather a choice we make to give or share something with another—the spiritual virtue we call charity. Community is what comes when the different persons of the Trinity share love amongst each other. Likewise, community is what comes when the different persons of humanity share love amongst each other. This unity via gift-love is only possible when a multiplicity of persons exists—whether divine persons or human persons. As much as some might talk about self-love, when it comes to charity, or gift-sharing love, more than one party is required.

Just as Christ emptied himself for our good, so too are we to set aside self-centered motives for other-centered ones. As former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams reflects, “As we look to the Christ who is … both the voice of humanity and the voice of wisdom, we begin to see how we ourselves may grow … into the wisdom we need in order to see and live with God.” Christ is the medium that allows humankind to see God and live with God. Jesus taking human form allows humankind to see God in the flesh—in or in our own, human terms. Humankind can be understood as analogous to God, but we are more than that; we are created in God’s image, which is more than mere analogy. Connecting back to the Godhead’s “unity in diversity,” this Trinitarian interrelatedness could even be said to be embedded into our DNA. God is three in one; God is at once diverse and unified. If humans are created like God, then it is possible for us—individually and collectively—to be at once diverse and unified.

When we come to realize “who and what we are,” Williams observes, “we also recognize each other in a different way; we perceive the image of God in each other and we acknowledge that there is one good for all human beings, one standard of justice. Our conversion has immediate interpersonal repercussions.” What allows us to perceive God in others? Prayer, for one, is a spiritual practice that enables us to see others through the eyes and heart of God, allowing us to see that while we are many and diverse, we are one, and as such this will drive our values and practices individually and societally. As Williams concludes, “the most significant aspect of [Augustine’s] treatment of the central theological mysteries of Christianity is his clear realization that to believe in the Incarnation or the Trinity is a skill of holy living as well as holy thinking; it is inseparable from a revolution in your image of yourself and from learning a loving openness to the infinite love of God.”

 We are drawn into and called to a more holy life as we live more fully into our belief in a Father, Son, and Spirit who share in relationship amongst themselves—and who, together, call us into a relationship with them and with one another.

Becky+

Moment for Reflection

Reflect on a time when, sharing time or conversation with others, you felt deeply connected with God. How do you understand your relationships with other people as giving you deeper insight into your relationship with God, and with the Trinity’s relationships with one another?