Essential, Yet Beyond Understanding
I’m not a cat-guy. Now, I realize that in admitting that publicly, I’m inviting all you cat- aficionados to flood my email box with silly cat-thingies. Please…don’t. I mention not being a cat-guy because I do tend to identify with one quality of the cat, it’s curiosity. Of course, we have heard that curiosity killed the cat, and that’s because the cat is naturally curious. Well, so am I. I have this strong desire to understand what is happening, to explore anything odd, to investigate that which intrigues me.
This is true in all areas of my life—including my faith. How does this work? What does that mean? When might this occur? Where is that happening? I want to understand what I believe, make sense of what I’m taught and satisfy my curiosity in all things spiritual.
And, then I run into the Trinity. “One God who eternally exists in three different and distinct Persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—all of whom are fully God, and all of whom are fully equal.”
Curiouser and curiouser. I want to explore, to learn, to understand. But, no matter how hard I look, no matter how much I study, I simply cannot grasp that which is beyond the finite brain. And the history of the Church is filled with failed attempts to explain the Trinity, botched efforts to grasp the ungraspable.
But our faith is not built on what we know, it is built on what God has revealed to us, what He has shown us of Himself, and He has shown us the Trinity (biblical support easily available on request!). So, by faith we grasp what we cannot know. We trust, not in our own ability to understand, but in His willingness to tell us. Often, that leaves us unsatisfied intellectually. That’s ok, for faith comes from hearing the Word of God.
I beg you, watch this four-minute video—hilarious! And, at the same time, a great teaching on the Trinity. {Note for joke at the end: Legend has it that St. Patrick chased all the snakes from Ireland}.
For worship this week, read Exodus 34, especially, verses 5-9.
