Trinity: Week 1
Summary: Sunday, February 26-Friday, March 3, 2017
The Trinity is absolutely foundational to Christianity because it reveals the heart of the nature of God. And yet, as Karl Rahner pointed out, it has made almost no difference in the lives of the vast majority of Christians. (Sunday)
God is not the dancer but the dance itself! God is much more a dynamic verb than a static noun. God is constant flow. (Monday)
Instead of the idea of the Trinity being an abstruse conundrum, it could well end up being the answer to Western religion’s basic problem: we’ve been worshipping an image of God that is not the God of Jesus. (Tuesday)
Most of us begin with some notion of God as a Being, and then we discover through Jesus that such a Being is loving. The Trinitarian revelation instead starts with the nature of loving—and this is the very nature of being! (Wednesday)
Scientists and contemplatives alike are confirming that the foundational nature of reality is relational. (Thursday)
“The doctrine of the Trinity reminds us that in God there is neither hierarchy nor inequality, neither division nor competition, but only unity in love amid diversity.” —Catherine LaCugna (Friday)
Practice: Ecstatic Dance
God cannot be known by thinking but by experiencing and loving. As you read about the theological framework and practical implications of Trinity, I hope you will take many opportunities to explore this concept in your lived experience.
Here’s one way you might play—with a childlike spirit—and feel Trinity’s flow in your body. You may even lose track of where you, the dancer, end and the dance itself begins.
Choose a favorite or new piece of music—classical, world, contemporary; anything that calls you to move!—and find a place in which you can listen and move without inhibition, barefooted if possible.
Allow your body to lead, following the invitation of the music. Let your mind take a back seat and tune in to the sensations of each part of your body.
Feel your feet connect with the ground. Let limbs and joints turn and bend as they will. Swing and sway your head, shoulders, hips. Sink deep into your body, remembering what it is to be a human animal.
Dance until you are pleasantly tired and then gradually slow your movements, perhaps to another musical tempo. Continue moving in smaller, gentler ways: breathe deeply, stretch your arms and legs, roll your head.
Come to a seated position and rest in stillness.
Gateway to Silence:
God for us, God with us, God in us
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, A Spring Within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations (CAC: 2016), 51.
For Further Study:
Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance: Exploring the Mystery of Trinity (CAC: 2004), CD, MP3 download
Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016)
