Cycles of Newness

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We worship a God that is a Trinity. He is Father, He is Son, and He is the Holy Spirit. All three have been, are, and always will be. They share everything in common: desires, ideas, relationships and deity. They shave everything because Love, God is Love. There is nothing the Father wants that the Son does not want, nor an action of the Son unappreciated by the Spirit. We have never known a lonely God, our God has always been loved, and has always been in love.

In Christianity, the differences in the Trinity have always been debated more than the similarities. Most of us agree that the Father begets the Son, some say the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, others assert that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son.* I am not much of a debater, I will leave it to mystery and learn from both views if I can.

The Orthodox hold that the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone.  I have learned from this that the Father enables the relationship between the Spirit and the Son. Every word and intention passed from the Spirit to the Son comes through Him, and this perfects the relationship. Thus every good relationship is enabled by the Father – in Heaven and on Earth.

I have learned from a good Saint, Richard of St. Victor, that love would be imperfect without at least three persons.** Unconditional love, agape, is the highest form of love man can comprehend… that is, we see our fallen world full of fleeting, conditional love, and deep within our spirit we yearn for something better. So first we believe in Agape by its absence, then after a taste of grace, by its filling. I digress. The Father unconditionally pours out his love on the Son and this is good. The Son is worthy of the Fathers love and can love the Father fully in return and this is better. But unconditional love cannot be perfected unless the lover (the Father) has something perfect, holy and good to share with his beloved (the Son). So the Father shares the Holy Spirit with the Son and Love is perfected.

But what does this have to do with me, a wretch of dust and needs? Am I not on Earth and God is in Heaven, sitting upon His throne, surrounded by holy adoration? How do I take part in love as God does, and why am I expected to?

The distance between Heaven and Earth is a human construct, born out of pride and fear — pride in man’s independence and individuality, and fear that Heaven would lift the veil and expose our shame. God is here, nearer to us than we are to ourselves, for He knows the depths of our heart , soul and being. He does not know them from afar, as someone might read the news or read a biography. He has known us before the womb, and walked with us each day since. He has loved us before we loved Him, the Love that the Trinity shares has been poured out on us since the beginning.

He enables every good relationship we have, none are complete without Him. When I love, I love through the Father, when I forgive, I forgive through Christ who grants me the grace to forgive. When I handle my relationships on my own, my pride shows and my shame is exposed. So I must admit my shame and give thanks to Him who gave me the relationship (Eucharisteo), then He gently moves me back  into communion with Him. Hallelujah. God has gifted me with relationships that I might know Him better, that as I love others, I love Him more. God’s love brings me into union with God.

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*The Filioque

**Richard of St. Victor On the Trinity Book III