A Mystery

“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? (Job 11:7 NIV)

This is the week traditionally set aside in the Christian church to reflect upon the Holy Trinity.  We accept the Holy Trinity as a mystery that cannot be humanly explained.  We have our incomplete comparisons.  Some like to use an apple - the core, the meat and the skin and their different functions - to explain the Trinity.  Some use human relationships - I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend, but still only myself - showing how we use different aspects of our personality in our various relationships.  But no matter how we try to explain it, the explanation falls short of the real mystery.  And as Christians we simply accept that.

So why then, do we feel the need to de-mystify and humanize God in other aspects of our relationship with him?  We put him in boxes that give us a better understanding.  Many give "him" a gender and totally freak out if someone prays to "our Mother who art in heaven."  I don't know how he is viewed in other nations, but some Americans see him as totally American and rooting for the American way of life, even taking our side on our favorite sports teams.  Or we may view God's eternity as an endless linear line of time instead of a totally mysterious absence of time (who can figure THAT out?).

Our instance in understanding God is what give us a very narrow view of life and an intolerance of others who believe differently.  Creating God in our own image gives us license to ostrasize and marginalize others.  It frees us to oppress those who we believe God "hates" and leads us to condone "righteous" war.

God is a mystery.  We can't put him in a box anymore than we can figure out what eternity really feels like.  If we can admit that we don't have a handle on the whole truth of God any more than any other religion, we can be free to love.  And guess what... more than anything else, God IS Love.  That is making ourselves more into God's own image.

Father God, Mother God,
You are indeed a holy mystery.  Help us to love and worship you even though we can never know all of who you are.  May we love others as you love them.  Amen.

Joys:  My oldest baby boy's birthday!; Looking forward to seeing Cecelia today; a successful project well received.