I freely and happily admit to being a theology nerd. There are multiple reasons for my fascination (some would call it an obsession) with the vast theological endeavor of thinking and speaking about “God”: I find the diversity of Christian traditions liberating; many of the strands of those traditions offer insights I never would have imagined in the religious tradition of my youth; and in a complex world of so many different and varying opinions about how we ought to live and what we should care about, I’m grateful for the pointers theological traditions offer for the journey. “Pointers” is the key word there, which evokes yet one more reason why I love theology: having grown up in a Christian tradition that valued “correctness” above nearly everything else (both in thought and behavior), studying the history of theological doctrines has helped me realize that being “correct” matters less than pointing well.
Some years ago I came across a pithy aphorism from Buddhist traditions that helped me appreciate something about all religious traditions, including Christianity: the finger is not the moon. Imagine you’re with friends outside on a cloudless night and there’s a full moon shining on the distance horizon. You point and exclaim, “Look!” In that moment, your goal is to show your friends the moon, not your finger. That’s exactly the work of religious doctrine, to point toward that infinite mystery we call “God,” and which we can never fully define or capture in our words. If we’re getting stuck on the doctrine itself (as if your friends can only see your finger and not the moon) then the doctrine is not working and needs to be revised.
This coming Sunday we will mark the conclusion of the major liturgical seasons of the Church year with our annual celebration of Trinity Sunday—a principal feast of the Church ostensibly devoted to a doctrine! Unlike so many clergy, who worry about preaching “correctly” about this doctrine, I love Trinity Sunday for the way it points toward that wonderful mystery of Divine Reality in which we live, and move, and have our being. Just to be clear, I could easily preach a sermon that stays entirely in the “orthodox” lane and avoids all the classic “heresies” associated with trinitarian doctrine (because I truly am a theology nerd, don’t forget)—but I would much rather point toward the mystery. (I’m intrigued, for example, by the image above by Victoria Gilpin. The three sacred figures are actually not featured as the focal point so much as the distant doorway, as if those figures are urging us to travel beyond our limited images toward what we have yet to imagine.)
If all we ever do with received doctrines is repeat them, we have missed the point of a lively orthodoxy. Doctrinal propositions should invite us deeper into the mystery of Divine Reality, farther along the good road toward healing and abundant life, and higher up the holy mountain toward its peak of joy. The doctrine of God as Holy Trinity does this—and especially in the complexity of its historical and dogmatic development—precisely because it resists tidy conceptual categories; it’s actually not possible to “get it right,” and that’s the point. By scrambling our usual ways of “making sense” of the world, affirming the triune oneness of God can break us free from some of our cognitive prisons and point us toward a much more expansive horizon.
Some of my astute seminary students over the years have wondered, and rightly so, why we should bother with doctrines at all if they carry the risk of static staleness. In response to that very good question I always return to yet another Buddhist metaphor: imagining dharma (or doctrine) as a boat. Consider for a moment that this life is something like a vast sea, and we’re hoping to travel well through this life and homeward, across that sea; to do so, it helps to have a boat—that’s what “doctrine” offers. It’s not the only thing we need to travel well, but it’s often indispensable, especially when the water gets rough and choppy. Once we arrive on that far shore across that vast sea, we can safely leave the boat (doctrine) behind. The point of doctrine is to travel well, and to help ensure others also travel well, and do all we can to make sure everyone arrives safely on the distant shore. Once there, we can offer thanks for the boat that brought us there, and then leave it behind as we continue the journey even deeper into God’s own endless, deathless life.
If this approach to the meaning of the word “God” is even mildly inspiring, or if you find your heart stirring, even just a little bit, that’s another reason I have grown to appreciate the deep explorations of theological traditions: it can lead me to engage in robust praise and vibrant worship. If I’m praising the God whose character is essentially social, it’s harder to care only about myself. If I’m inspired to worship the God whose own life is thoroughly love, it’s at least more difficult to hold on to hate. If lively liturgies in the company of others point me toward the infinite mystery of the living God, I can worry less about “correctness” and devote my energy instead to ensuring that no one gets left behind. That’s why doctrine still matters, actually—it can point us toward our goal and along the good road toward thriving.
Dates and Notices
- Christian Neighbors, the shared outreach ministry of Saugatuck-Douglas churches, and to which All Saints’ Parish makes a monthly contribution, conducts special “drives” during the year. This month, they are collecting cereal—which is a great snack for children to have after they come home from school, and is a great help to parents! Please bring some boxes of cereal to church this month (of any kind!) or you can write a check to All Saints’ (with “Christian Neighbors” on the memo line).
- The Third Annual Jazz for Justice street party to kick off LGBTQ Pride Month is scheduled for Friday evening, June 5! Mark your calendars as we welcome back the Holland Concert Jazz Orchestra from 5:30—9:00 p.m. We will close Grand Street in front of the parish hall lawn; food trucks, beer, wine, and soft drinks will be available, as well as dessert! Invite your friends and neighbors! This is a wonderful celebration and opportunity to stand (musically) in solidarity with all of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender friends and neighbors! We will soon have yard signs to help promote the event—you can pick one up for your own yard at church!
- Scripture and Sexuality is a topic that tends to shape conversations (and sometimes confrontations) at LGBT Pride festivals. As people of faith, we should always be prepared to give sound religious and spiritual reasons for our unqualified embrace and welcome of LGBT people—including our approach to the Bible in that welcoming posture. On Sunday, June 14, following the 10:15 liturgy, we will review ways of talking about the Bible for the sake of welcoming LGBT people, including strategies for engaging with people who object to such postures of Gospel welcome.
- The Bishop Search Committee for our brand new Diocese of the Great Lakes (the committee on which your rector serves) has been making great progress! We have narrowed the list of possible candidates and will be inviting some of them to a discernment retreat early in July. Not long after that, a short list of final candidates will be presented to the Standing Committee of the diocese and those candidates will begin traveling around the state to meet people and engage in conversation. The convention to elect our first bishop will happen late in October. Keep the search committee in your prayers!
- The Rev. Rebekah Taylor officially begins her time with us on June 1 as a part-time consultant for our digital ministry project as we seek to expand our reach not only online but also in this wider shoreline community. You’ll be hearing more about that project and her work soon!
It’s always interesting and sometimes slightly horrifying to do broad Google searches for visual images on religious themes or topics. Narrow search terms will usually yield fairly narrow results; “God as Holy Trinity,” for example, will return mostly traditional icons or generally recognizable “religious” art. If you make the search too broad, the results can be comical and sometimes dismaying. Searching with just the word “trinity,” for example, might lead to a photo of the actor Carrie-Anne Moss, who played the character called Trinity in the movie The Matrix, or you might get a link to a YouTube video showing how to tie a necktie properly with a “trinity knot.” A few years back, that search led me to the superhero trio of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (actually, I think I could preach a great Holy Trinity sermon on that!).
My point here is that words alone will always fall short of capturing the mystery of God’s presence among us—visual art can help, so can music, and also the performing arts. Indeed, all of those modes of imagining, thinking, creating, expressing, speaking, singing, painting, and performing are needed to help ensure that we are “pointing well” toward that inexpressible mystery of God’s own life. Given the long history of Christian art showing basically three static male figures (usually white) as an image of the Holy Trinity, the richness of words can sometimes help us expand our visual imagination, too. In addition to the intriguing image above by Victoria Gilpin, I recently found the image below by Nigerian artist Daniel Ivevbuno—I love the closeness of the faces, suggesting a unity, yet each is posed slightly differently (suggesting distinction) while the colors evoke a resonant harmony (underscored by the title of the piece), and of course, these are not white men. The wildly expansive range of visual images—just like the unimaginably rich diversity of human faces on Earth!—can remind us of our own limits and the divine horizon before us that we have yet to explore.
Fr. Jay
A Community of Care
Please let us know how we may pray for you—concerns as well as celebrations—and other requests you may have as we strengthen our bonds of care and compassion with each other here in western Michigan and with those around the world in need of prayer.
Prayer Requests
- The United States of America—for a restoration of peace and for a renewed commitment to the common good; for an end to systemic racism and violence; for social and economic justice; for a courageous engagement with ecological renewal and healing.
- For an end to violence and a lasting peace with justice throughout the world—in the Middle East (especially in Iran, the nations of the Gulf region, and still also Gaza and the West Bank), and in Ukraine.
- The mission and shared ministry of this parish, for pastoral insight and ministerial discernment for the clergy and lay leaders, especially the Vestry and our various Ministry Teams.
- For the Bishop Search Committee of this Diocese of the Great Lakes, for divine guidance in preparing a slate of candidates, and for discernment among all those who might feel called to serve.
- Lynn, Mary Ryder’s cousin.
- Katelyn, for comfort and healing.
- Holly Quarles, for courage and healing.
- Mary Saba, for healing.
- Frank Lindsay, for healing.
- Sky and Dale Ann Suydam, for resilience and courage.
- Kevin Martin, for healing and renewed strength.
- Susan Gaunt, for renewed strength and healing.
- Ruth Vanden Bosch, for resilience and healing.
- Mike Mulcahy and Chris Seidel, for comfort and strength.
Special Occasions in June
Do we have your special occasions on file? Would you like to prayerfully celebrate your baptismal anniversary? Ordination anniversary? Let us know what you would like us to remember with you and we’ll post it!
Birthdays – June
Bonnie VerWys 6/3, Don Olendorf 6/7, John Celletti 6/12, Eve Shetterly 6/15, Ellen Neal 6/16, Christi Allen 6/17, Marcy Elder 6/20, Abigail Collins 6/25, Marion Monique 6/28, Janet Eder 6/30
Wedding Anniversaries – June
Win and Mary Ryder 6/1, Larry Engel and Darren Schacht 6/13, John and Cynthia Fulenwider 6/24, David and Margaret Mason 6/29
