Trinity

My attention has been focused on thoughts around the trinity over the last couple of weeks – that God is the father, son and Holy Spirit as one. It’s been enjoyable revisiting this topic and it led me to read one of Baxter Kruger’s books – Jesus and the undoing of Adam (it's been on the bookshelf for about 2 years). It’s always very exciting reading his work as he sets straight what I hope are some fundamental truths about our God and turns onto it’s head our western concept of who God is. It’s been a “revision of (my) perception”. Baxter describes repentance as “the radical re-orientation of our minds” - something I need to be reminded of every day. Below are a few phases from this book, which I would like to be mindful of as I go about my with-God existence.

God always intended to become flesh. It wasn’t a second plan – the eternal plan of God which precedes creation itself.

The Father loves the son, the son loves the Father and they share all things in the love and unchained fellowship of the spirit.

Trinity means that we believe that God is a relational being, and always has been, and always will be. The doctrine of the trinity means that relationships, that fellowship, that togetherness and sharing, that self-giving and other centeredness are not after thoughts with God, but the deepest truth about the being of God. Baxter speaks of how before God created anything - the universe, earth, heaven, heavenly creatures etc- God was there and as God is love, God had to be in relationship and thus suggesting that God is Father (lover) and the Son (re-loved) and sharing all things in the Spirit - being in loving relationship. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." John 1: 1-2

For while the father, son and holy spirit remain eternally distinct, their love for one another is so pure and their fellowship is so deep that any descriptive word short of “one” betrays the sheer reality of their togetherness.

The understanding of all this implicates the type of relationship God wishes to have with us – to share in that relationship, that fellowship, that togetherness and sharing, that self-giving and other centeredness. To be brought into the one-ness of God the father and the son – and share all things in the love and unchained fellowship of the spirit. How amazing is this! It gives me a closer understanding of “God is Love” and understanding what love truly is. It gives me plenty to think about too! Just imagine how the church would be if all people could understand this utterly amazing love God has for us. It would radically re-orientate the way we relate to God, to people. Why is it that our view of God is often turned on it’s head – that the words which quickly come to mind when describing God include anger, judgment and rejection..

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HAS blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose US in Christ before the foundation of the world to be HOLY and BLAMELESS before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children though Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will…Ephesians 1: 4-5.

Silk

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things from above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand side of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Colossians 3: 1-4



I became more aware of this passage after coming across it in “The Interior Castle”. The book pays particular attention to verse 3 “and your life is hidden with Christ in God” – and Teresa has painted yet another wonderful image of this hiding (and revealing) through the silk worm;

The silk worm symbolizes the soul which begins it live when, kindled by the Holy Spirit….

Then it comes to life and continues nourishing itself on this food and on devout meditation until it has attained full vigour….

….it begins to spin silk to build the house wherein it must die. By this house when, speaking of the soul, I mean Christ. This shows how much, by God’s grace, we can do, by preparing this home for ourselves, towards making Him our dwelling-place as He is the prayer of union….

Forward then, hasten over your work and build the little cocoon. Let us renounce self-love and self-will, care for nothing earthly, do penance, pray, mortify ourselves, be obedient, and perform all the other good works of which you know. Act up to your light; you have been taught your duties. Die! Die as the silkworm does when it has fulfilled the office of is creation, and you will see God and be immersed in His greatness, as the little silkworm is enveloped in its cocoon. Understand that when I say “you will see God”, I mean in the manner described, in which He manifests Himself in this kind of union.

What an amazing description! I love the symbolism found in us being little butterflies – all of a sudden, earthly things mean nothing to it – it can fly! It rejoices in a newfound freedom through an amazing transformation.

Through putting effort into nourishing our souls and seeking to what is above, God further lavishes us with the riches of His grace.

I have been following God through Jesus for half my life now and I can’t keep thinking that there is so much more God wishes to reveal to me about Himself and the of the extraordinary authority He hands us to co-rule His kingdom.

Soul

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. Ephesians 3:16-17

Another example from the Bible describing the importance of the inner being – a call for me to be strengthened in my “inner being” - with power through his Spirit. The reason for this points to us being “rooted and grounded” in love. Another strong indication that this cultivation of the inner life will help me to understand just what love is – who God is – to understand being a love with God and others.

….and that Christ may dwell IN me. The following section of text is from “The Inner Castle” which I am currently reading. The writer describes our souls like a castle full of chambers or mansions, as the soul travels into itself, towards the centre chamber, it gets closer to where God dwells and the light gets brighter (see last post)….


“Some say the soul enters into itself; others, that it rises above itself. I can say nothing about these terms, but had better speak of the subject as I understand it. You will probably grasp my meaning, although, perhaps, I may be the only person who understands it.


Let us imagine that the senses and powers of the soul have fled and joined the enemy outside. After long days and years of absence, perceiving how great has been their loss, they return to the neighborhood of the castle, but cannot manage to re-enter it, for their evil habits are hard to break off; still, they are no longer traitors, and they wander about outside.


The King, Who holds His court within it, sees their good will, and out of His great mercy desires them to return to Him. Like a good Shepherd, He plays so sweetly on His pipe, that although scarcely hearing it they recognise His call and no longer wander, but return, like lost sheep, to the mansions. So strong is this Pastor’s power over His flock, that they abandon the worldly cares which misled them and re-enter the castle.”

This image of the King calling us inwards is a wonderful one – and something worth meditating on. It gives me a sense of the “riches of His glory” and portrays that yearning God has for us to be reconciled to Him – that sweet song – ever so quiet. This passage of text also reminds me of the story of the prodigal son.

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and ,length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of god. Ephesians 3: 18-19

Castle

I have been reading an amazing book entitled The Interior Castle by St Teresa of Jesus. It was written over 400 years ago! Her book focuses on things to do with the soul and I may enter some more postings about this book as I go along. The jist of the book is this;

I began to think of the soul as a castle made of a single diamond in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.

Theresa’s friend, the priest Fray Diego de Yepes tells of how;

(God) showed her a most beautiful crystal globe, made in the shape of a castle, and containing seven mansions, in the seventh and innermost of which was the king of Glory, in the greatest splendour, illuminating and beautifying them all. The nearer one got to the centre, the stronger was the light; outside the palace limits everything was foul, dark and infested with toads, vipers and other venomous creatures.

It’s a mystical journey to the centre of the soul – where God resides.

She speaks so splendidly of the secrets she discover about God as she nears the centre, it really makes me realize how I can never allow myself to limit the depth of my relationship with Him. She speaks of so much mystery and so much wonder.

She also makes another interesting point – referring to how the light gets stronger the nearer to the centre you get. She states that it’s only dimmer on the outside chambers because the traveller can’t see the light properly – we are oblivious to it – only seeing a dimmed down version of the light – a bit like having welding goggles on perhaps!!

There is so much to learn from this book I feel but I am going to have to read it a few times I think. She speaks of a “prayer of recollection”. I had to look this up in the dictionary to try and understand the word recollection. It reads: person’s memory or their compass. Perhaps this prayer is about the soul remembering it’s first love, it’s entanglement in and with Christ – our “true north”.

Meaning?

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I truly tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. Matt 18:18-19

I will give you the keys of the kingdom, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matt 16:19

I have never noticed these verses before! But what an insight into some significant questions on how we go about our business on Earth – we can call the shots in partnership with God. God is giving his followers the authority to make new interpretations of the bible and that somehow God is involved with that process.

To bind something means to “forbid” it, to loose something means to “allow it”. The rabbis of the day used to practice this binding and loosing all the time – in relation to the Torah. Rabbis had great authority in their communities– as did Jesus, and Jesus passed this authority onto his followers and effectively onto us.

So God encourages us to argue and wrestle with the text of the bible – to question everything and to come up with our interpretation with the guidance of God. We are encouraged to do this in community – as a group – 2 or more – with God.

This once again raises the importance of living a “with-God” life, to read the text, to read the notes on the text AND to pray and meditate – to listen and to be guided for what is right for our community!!!

The early believersChristians had to do this when it became aparent that Gentiles were being transformed by God and becoming christians– those who were not Jewish. This was a big problem because it was “unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile” (Acts 10:28). So some Jewish leaders got together and argued it out, debated it and came to the conclusion that “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials:” (Acts 15: 28, the whole of Acts 15 explains the process).

Rob Bell speaks of this decision the believers made in his book Velvet Elvis; which I think is really important.
“They are making a monumental decision in the history of Christianity, and the best they can say is that it seems like it is the best decision? It seems good to them and the holy spirit? They don’t claim to have an absolute word from God on the matter; they at best claim guidance from the holy spirit of God, but they even hold that loosely.”

This is great! We need to remain humble in our decisions, be open to the fact that we might not have nailed the first time – not for decisions to be set in concrete for the rest of our existence but to work out our interactions with people and with our earth - with our God.

I wonder how much more of a tolerant, loving, peaceful community we would be if we used the keys to the kingdom a little more seriously…

Meditate

This book of law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. Joshua 1:8

Back in the days of Jesus, the rabbis would expect their students to memorise the Torah. They would start at the age of 6 and have it memorised by the age of 10! The first 5 books of the Bible! It is not uncommon for Jewish Believers to memorise the whole old testament. I find that beyond belief! I find it hard enough to memorise single verses. The Torah can mean “teachings” or simply “way”. The Jewish population consider the Torah to be the way, truth and life. Sounds familiar! I am in awe of their dedication and discipline to memorise this text.

To me the verse above makes an important point, as we get very familiar with sections of the bible, it should then be meditated on, allowing God to speak to me about what it means to my with-God life, my inner life and my interactions with my environment. It seems that perhaps the bible isn’t meant to be interpreted without the assistance of God – meditation.

Willard writes “Then the things that come before us during the day come in the presence of God’s illuminating Word. Light dwells within us and enables us to see the things of life in the right way”(Pg 127 The Great Ommission). In your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

Psalm 1 is another passage of text which points to this important spiritual discipline.

SexGod

I recieved this book in the mail yesterday (after ordering it of course). I haven't started it yet but I did read the intro (have a couple of other books to get through first). The author is Rob Bell. Here is a paragraph out of the intro;

Sex.God. They're connected. And they can't be seperated. Where the one is, you will always find the other. This is a book about how sexuality is the "this" and spirituality is the "that". To make sense of the one,we have to explore the other

And that is what this book is about.

Sounds great already!

I spend a large amount of my work time educating on the subject of sexual health, the more I learn about it, the more I realise how dominant sex and sexuality is in our lives, I have absolutely recognised the link between sexuality and spirituality.

It makes sense and it is re-assuring that God is involved in this too. As I draw into a "with-God" life, it pleases me to know that I will learn more about my sexuality - relationships, intimacy, physical being, emotions etc.