Refractions and Reflections

Here are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite groups: "Prepare Ye the Way" by Caedmon's Call The Word of the Lord came one evening Concerning His bride's great sin He'd send down His Word to renew her To prepare for the Bridegroom again The Word said repent From seeking vain glories While the gifts in the Lord's name you give Repent of all the first stones cast to kill While your own self-righteousness lives Prepare ye the way for the Lord Prepare ye the way for the Kingdom Prepare ye the way Prepare ye the way for the Lord The Word said repent And turn from your strivings Repent and turn from your hatred Repent from the doctrines of men that divide And fear like the wedding gown ripped Walk in His love like newborn children Walk in His love, let the wedding gown mend Walk in His love, with humility come with pure hearts And cast all your cares to the wind The Word of the Lord came one evening Concerning His bride's great sin He ass...

While the rest of the U.S. is asleep, I am thinking about the Holy Trinity. So, I decided to blog about my thoughts. It is my nature to try to understand things. While I know I will never fully comprehend God, it does not stop me from trying! So first, I was contemplating the Trinity in this way (keep in mind there are flaws to this thinking, which I will explain afterward): Because we as Christians claim that our Trinitarian God is One (and we are monotheistic)...we begin all our thoughts on the Godhead with the person of the Father - the God who first revealed Himself to the Jews and their patriarchs. We know that this God revealed Himself more personally to the world through the man, Jesus Christ. In fact, we believe that Jesus was (and is) God, incarnate (in human flesh). Hebrews tells us that He (Jesus), having lived a human life, among humans, within the constraints of human time and the natural laws of physicality, can identify with the human situation in all of its details. So ...

Psalm 68:6 says that "God setteth the solitary in families...." Just a few brief thoughts on that... It has been a joy and a comfort to experience this promise in my own life. When I lived in Ohio, I moved in with my pastors when I was 18, two years after my brother had committed suicide - I was a depressed, grieving, lonely teenager who needed love from people who were not dealing with the same intense loss I was dealing with (i.e., my family). God gave me that in these pastors and their children. I had only known them for a brief time; I don't even remember exactly how the transition was made; I just know that that living situation was an influential shaping experience in my life. God set the solitary in a family. Then I moved to Missouri where I knew no one; and again, I have experienced people who owe me nothing, taking me in and making me part of them. I spend holidays with these people, I keep their children overnight, I vacation with them - I live life with them. A...