The Deep Things of God

Last month, I traveled to Wisconsin to take a class with Dr. Katherine Sonderegger called “The Spirit of the Living Christ.” I had an incredible time—the class was full of rich discussion, expertly guided by our unassuming yet brilliant professor. We discussed the Trinity, particularly the Son and the Spirit and how they relate to one another. What do we mean, for example, when we say that the Son is “begotten” by the Father, or that the Spirit “proceeds” from the Father (and, in the West, the Son)? What might it mean for the persons of the Trinity to be coequal while still existing in some sort of order? How do we understand the relationship between the persons while acknowledging that God is still one? We explored the views of thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, Sergei Bulgakov, Yves Congar, Karl Barth, and Sarah Coakley. With these thinkers as our guides, we carefully engaged with different Christian traditions and how they grapple with the mysteries of the Trinity.

Perhaps, however, as you read these meanderings on Trinitarian theology, your eyes began to glaze over … sure, these questions are interesting, but how are they relevant to our lives? This was actually one of my biggest takeaways from the class: God is not an idea to be pondered, but a reality to be experienced. By grappling with the mysteries of the Trinity, we find that God is love, because he exists eternally in loving relationship. The Christian life is not primarily one of rules or accepting beliefs, but of being brought up into this vibrant life of God. We don’t think about theology for its own sake; we think about the deep things of God so that we might be drawn more deeply into prayer and experience of God.

So today, what mysteries of God have presented themselves to you? What spiritual truths have been stirring in your heart? How has God shown himself to you? Think deeply about these things, whether theological reflections, answers to prayer, or anything else. Ponder them in your heart—and let the Spirit carry you into wonder, love, and praise.

Deacon Jacob