I was doing a Google search to find an image for today’s blog when I happened upon the Holy Trinity I know well and understand completely. Mirepoix, the Holy Trinity of sauces and soups, 2 parts onion, 1 part carrot, 1 part celery, the foundational flavor of all things French. Sautéed or roasted, the three become one and everything that follows is built on the base of the Mirepoix. Since I’ve avoided simple analogies to explain the mystery of the Trinity I’m going to resist comparing Father Son Spirit to Onion Carrot Celery. However, as the foundation for sauces that celebrate life the Mirepoix isn’t a bad image of what the Infinite Imagination had in mind when uttering “Let there be…” brought forth all there is. In Proverbs Father Son Spirit, the foundation upon which everything is built, rejoices in the inhabited world and delights in humanity. In Psalm 8 the majestic name above all the earth mindful of mortals crowns them with glory and honor. In Romans the love of God poured into human hearts through the One who dies to turn enemies into friends makes it possible for suffering endured to produce a hope that does not disappoint. And finally Holy Breath creating something from nothing makes possible the vision of the future, the finished product if you will, a vast multitude of every race and tongue and tribe singing as one. In the meantime we anticipate the first taste of the feast when through acts of love and lives that are “winsome and compelling” we get down to dicing onions, carrots and celery. Whew! A whole week of Trinity talk and not a heretical thought in the lot which is good because the Bishop is reading the blog!
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ReplyDeleteOf course you are right. It is both-and, not either-or. I appreciate your blog and the opportunity for reflection and sharing that it provides.
ReplyDeleteI disagree, though, with your anti-heretical self-defense. You are not an apostate in any sense, but are a useful, healthy heretic. If a heretic is someone who presents a novel or even controversial change to a system of beliefs (or application of those beliefs), then the definition fits. I can assure you that in the 1950's Lutheran church I grew up in, some of your views would be seen as heresy.
Huub Oosterhuis, whose Holy Spirit prayer was the basis for one of my posts, was proclaimed a heretic and defrocked by the Jesuit order and Roman church in 1969, which was also the year he wrote the prayer book I have carried around. He continued serving as a priest, outside the responsibility of a bishop, for forty more years. In that same timeframe he authored sixty more books and 700 some hymns, liturgies, etc.
Luther himself was, of course, a heretic. Fortunately, you serve under a Bishop who may from time to time have had a few heretical thoughts of his own, and in a denomination that is trying to allow itself to emerge/evolve. In any case, if I were you I'd wear that mantle proudly.
Thanks Greg, if that's the defintion I'll happily be a heretic!
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