THE TRINITY: One of the young monks complained to Abba
Jonathan: “when I go to pray, it seems like nothing is there.”
“Exactly,” said
Abba Jonathan, “the one to whom you pray is No-Thing.”
“So what about the Trinity? ” another monk
asked him.
“That’s easy,” replied Abba Jonathan, “Aim your prayers at the
No-Thing, the Every-Thing, and the Wild-Thing.”
“I guess by ‘Every-Thing’ you
mean the 2nd Person of the Trinity,” the seeker responded.
“Yes,” said the older monk, “for ‘he has
ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.’
The first
inquirer asked, “So the one-to-whom-prayer-is aimed is both No-Thing and
Every-Thing?” “You bet,” said Abba Jonathan, “and a Wild-Thing too.”
5 comments:
Interesting is the opposing ideas represented in the spelling of the word 'nothing'. As 'nothing', the word conveys a negative expression that suggests that there is no God. As 'no-thing', the word suggests (to me anyway) an omniscient (or all-being) God that is everywhere and in everything.
Part of the difficulty I have with the idea of the Trinity is that it seeks to explain or define God. Although this is a very human thing to do, I am also inclined to believe it is a very impossible and unnecessary thing as well. I do not believe "up the ladder" so to speak. I am (as of now anyway) one who believes that Jesus lived and died for us, but not necessarily as a direct progression to or from God.
-Tom Manney
Trying to make sense of all the information given in the video presentation in class along with the reading from Kathryn Tanner's book I come out with God is not just another "item" in the universe. That God is not a "thing" in the world whose will competes with other wills.
Kathryn Tanner quotes Sokolowski in her book that "...the Christian God is not a part of the world and is not a "kind" of being at all". p11 Therefore God is "No-Thing"
The Father creates the world and sends the Son to us in Jesus and the Holy Spirit to dwell IN us through Jesus...a kind of extension outside God of the way the Father is the source of the Son and the Spirit within the Trinity." Jesus, Humanity and the Trinity p14
Because Jesus ascended far above...[so] that he might fill All Things Jesus is the Every-Thing.The Speakers in the video presentation said that Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father and the wait for the Spirit. So the one to whom prayer is aimed at is both the No-Thing and the Every-Thing and we wait for the Wild-Think. I like this explanation a lot, I can visualize this.
Each "character" of the Trinity has different individual tasks - yet they all act together in unity. There is relationship not only between God and the world but within God (the Trinity interacting with each other in a non competitive transcendence way.
RaeLee Baxter
What I have taken away from the readings, the video, and the blog is that what is most important about the trinity is the relationships it exemplifies. God is not an unknown deity without connection to us, as the Jewish and Islamic one God tends to be seen. Because Jesus the man is also God, it gives a direct connection to the Father God. The Holy Spirit gives humanity a direct experience of God within us, a direct relationship with God that is exemplified through God the Son, truly both divine and human. God is NO-Thing because he is Every-thing. Without the relationship of the Trinity connecting us, through the holy Spirit, and God, we could not see that God is Love, and it's this love that defines our experiences of God and each other.
Without God there is No-thing. God is the creator, redeemer, and the sustainer. God gives us Every-thing in the divinely human Jesus. The Every-thing left us humans the Wild-thing to stay connected with all "Things" that are Love. The Wild-thing is what keeps us energized to maintain a relationship with No-thing and Every-thing. The Mystery of the Trinity I believe is so intriguing it makes you want to experience a relationship with all-Things.
All-things make One!
Kelly Scheu
Our living relationship, including prayer, is intensified by consciously knowing that we are in a dance with a God who is tri-personal. The Trinity is every-thing especially when it comes to prayers. The Bible teaches us to pray to the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Being aware of the distinct roles that each person of the Trinity has in that dance can give us great comfort in our prayers. Like the monk, sometimes, we too feel like we are praying to no-thing. You know, the no-thing, we can't physically reach out and touch, feel, smell or hear! But knowing a God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit can help us be more specific in directing our prayer but not so separately that the other Persons are not hearing or involved as well. Instead, every-thing that one of the three is involved in, the other two are listening and acting as well.
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