I struggled with my first lot of Christian doctrine studies when it came to the intricacies of the Trinity.  Somehow the exam questions allowed me to avoid public disclosure of my confusion! Only much later, when doing further studies, did the language and issues associated with classical Trinitarian theological thinking make sense.

   Before then, however, I realized that a crucial issue is not so much defining the exact relationship between ‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit’, as recognizing that there is a relationship within the Godhead. The God we approach with confidence is not a self-sufficient monolithic entity. Within God, interactive communion provides a divine entity where relationship is celebrated. The God whom we confess as Father, and as Son, and as Holy Spirit expresses a divine internal co-dependency.

   The reflections of Jesus concerning himself, God and the Spirit illustrate this divine relationship.   That divine relationship overflows to us. Whatever the interaction between ‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit’, Jesus assures us that is the Divine interaction with us! (see e.g. John 15:26-17:26).

   Meister Eckhart, a 14th century German mystic, put it this way, “Do you want to know what goes on in the heart of the Trinity?  I’ll tell you.  At the heart of the Trinity, the Father laughs, and gives birth to the Son. The Son then laughs back at the Father, and gives birth to the Spirit.  Then the whole Trinity laughs and gives birth to us.”

   Allowing for unavoidably awkward consequential time and spatial imagery, the essential message of Meister Eckhart holds: “the whole Trinity laughs and gives birth to us”. Our God, having birthed us, delights in us and relates to us. By nature, as imaged in God’s self-disclosure, God is the God of interactive communion.

Shalom                                                          Louis van Laar