God is an ineffable mystery. St Paul wrote that someday we will be able to see clearly what is now in a mirror darkly. Too often, our ideas of God are too small, too bound by human language and ideas. God is so far beyond our definitions that they aren’t often helpful. In discussing dogmas, I sometimes think of medieval heresy trials- as my Catholic background peeks through. If beliefs are taken out of context and pushed into a nutshell, almost everyone or possibly everyone would be guilty of heterodoxy. What matters far more than the right answer, especially short answer, is love, recognizing the attempt to find relationship with God, and understanding that we are on different paths and in different stages on those paths. Definitions are tricky. The more one tries to pin down a word, the more alternate meanings enter, and if this is true of a word, it is much more true of the ineffable God. Attention to inclusive language is also an …show more content…
He told the child that this was an impossible task, and the child replied that it was no more impossible than understanding the Trinity. Of course, this did not stop him from writing a long book. I believe that it is essential both that we try to understand and learn about God and that we know that we will never succeed, and in trying to learn about the Trinity, the description that makes the most sense to me is that the trinity is a relationship. They are three in one and one in three, so in love that there is no separation. If the Trinity is relationship, perichoresis- a divine dance of love, overflowing into creation, it is a model for the generous love that we are called to show also. If we are made in the image and likeness of God, and God is a relationship, that means that the call to being in relationship, with God and our neighbors, is essential to being