Wow. An Interesting Thought.
The idea of divine perichoresis is a great way to describe the inner reality of the incomprehensible God.
I think that there is a more modern model that may complement this well.
What if we said that God is the perfect instantiation of relationally-appropriate intimacy?
Just think about it.
Intimacy involves two SUBJECTS becoming one...without objectification or marginalization.
Intimacy is the interaction of two fundmentally INACCESSIBLE beings (because of the uniqueness of subjectivity aka "perspective" who will to REVEAL themselves to one another.
Intimacy involves the SHARING of one's another's emotional energy.
We call this "empathy"
But intimacy also RESPECTS BOUNDARIES...
Intimacy doesn't allow individuality to get swallowed up in relationship.
Intimacy is the most powerful sentient form of UNITY AND DIVERSITY.
(Which is why God wants us to have intimacy with God...)
Break in thought...Digression...
TOTAL intimacy between God and spiritual creatures (this would be union with God, which is only reserved for humans) would be the HIGHEST POSSIBLE FORM of beauty possible. This is because this would be the Infinite actually unifying itself with the finite.
Imagine...
A way that the INFINITE actually would be ONE with the finite, in some meaningful way.
The aesthetic appreciation from such a HUGE unity in diversity...
would be immense...
A supposed impossibility.
But all things are possible with God.
"Too awsome to be contained by the heavens...but living in me."
This is why God is waiting on the harvest of the Human Race.
And it's not too far away either...
Moving on...
...
...
Actually, this is a good definition for intimacy...as I see it...
Intimacy is passionate, chosen, loving interdependence between persons where a unifying bond is formed between those persons.
Where personhood is conserved...though unity of persons is achieved.
Think about marriage.
Now, think about SEX in marriage. (Song of Solomon)
Now, think of the CONSTANT motif of God being MARRIED to his people.
Could it even be possible that God would want to be INTIMATELY ONE with his Bride/Wife...even though she whores herself around in her despair...
And so God would take on the job of cleaning up his Gomer, the dirty, despairing idolater...
Through the ultimate sacrifice of Godself...
All because God wants to be ONE with humanity.
That's humbling...
Yeah...
Yeah...
That's right.
At any rate...
The Father intimately relates to the Son. The Son intimately relates to the Father. The Father intimately relates to the Spirit. The Spirit intimately relates to the Father. The Son intimately relates to the Spirit. The Spirit intimately relates to the Son.
And they relate in relationally-appropriate ways!
(This must be what all the "subordination" in the Trinity discussion was all about...hmmmm...)
The Persons of the Trinity relate to one another as Three unique centers of perspective within the Divine One Necessary Being. And this means that they relate to each other DISTINCTLY on the basis of that.
The Father is NOT the Only Begotten.
The Only Begotten is NOT the Eternally Proceeding.
The Eternally Proceeding is NOT the Father.
But...
They all relate in perfect relationally-appropriate intimacy with one another.
Wow.
Parents aren't their children...
And children aren't their parents...
But they can have relationally-appropriate intimacy with one another.
Such that fathers love their sons and daughters...
and mothers love their sons and daughters...
and sons and daughters love their mothers...
and sons and daughters love their fathers...
In a NON-EMESHED, healthy way!
Which is why INCEST (physical or emotional) isn't helpful to having healthy family systems...
Obviously...
Well...maybe that's why God made a commandment against it...
And against homosexuality (See Tom's Idea)...
And against beastiality...
God wants human beings to have relationally-appropriate intimacy occur between beings...
NOT perversion of that intimacy.
Damn.
Anyways...
Hey... I just remembered my definition of love again... But it's being tweaked... "Love is when a person A acknowledges another person B’s unique existence, and ON THAT BASIS ALONE,
1) attributes immense positive worth based on B’s individual, unique existence,
2) shares some part of themselves with B and,
3) seeks, whenever possible, to empower the other person B to have the ability to become more of a person before God and him/herself in such a way that the empowered person B is NOT dysfunctionally reliant upon the empowering person A."Trippy. Cause what I tried to do was describe a form of love that would apply to the Persons of the Trinity in a meaningful way. Guess it worked.  Anyways... What do y'all think about saying that... God is the perfect instantiation of relationally-appropriate intimacy.
"All is full of love." -- Bjork
"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." -- 1 John 4:16b
"God is most glorified in us as we are most satisfied in God's love." -- the newest mantra of the Evangelical Universalist :) Post Edited (Namaste) : 10/23/2006 12:37:40 PM (GMT-5) |