Let us pray: Almighty God, through your Holy Spirit you created unity in the midst of diversity; We acknowledge that human diversity is an expression of your manifold love for your creation. We confess that in our brokenness as human beings we turn diversity into a source of alienation, injustice, oppression, and wounding. Empower us to recognize and celebrate differences as your great gift to the human family. Enable us to be the architects of understanding, of respect and love; Through the Lord, the ground of all unity, we pray. Amen.
Years ago, my home diocese, back in Brazil, commissioned a large mural for the chapel in our Diocesan Retreat House (aka Centro Diocesano de Conferências). They asked me to design an image that would help to see and feel the 'sacred' in that space.
I was young and even though I was able to create something from scratch I decided to research starting with the concept of iconography.
The vocation of an icon writer is to lead people into prayer using icons. That said icons aren’t only pieces of art but windows to heaven. Through icons, you teach and pray, and lead others into Christian mysticism.
That research revealed a diversity of images to bring to the chapel. Now, I had to select one to represent the desire of encountering God in that space.
I decided to look in the Bible for inspiration and the first passage I read was today’s Old Testament story. The passage on the Holy Wisdom. “Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?” Proverbs 8:1
The Bible refers to Her as a dynamic element in the Divine Three. Much mystery and holiness around the idea of the Holy Trinity.
That said, from the early centuries, the Holy Wisdom was depicted in icons with androgynous features. It is neither male nor female because the mystery of God goes beyond gender identities. God can’t be contained in human patterns. (See: icon of the Holy Wisdom by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM.)
To me, that was the right image to place on the walls of the Retreat House. An image of God that does not require a clear understanding of gender, however, expresses how wide God is. So beyond our expectations. God is revealed in a human body with gender diversity.
We need symbolic language to talk about God, and ancient images can be helpful to deepen our relationship with God and with our brothers and sisters.
Is the Holy Wisdom a complex theological concept? Well, what to say about the Holy Trinity then?
Today, when we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity we celebrate our understanding that God is plural and organic. And we learn from that mystery of pluralism.
We all have stories to share about how we encountered God, or how we experience God in different moments of life. My story about the Holy Trinity begins in my first year of theological Seminary back in Brazil. Actually, it was the first week of the theological seminary, and the class was: the Systematic Theology of the Church. First day in that class and Bum! The professor trying to get to know the students asks the following question: “Tell me what is your understanding of the Santissima Trindade, (the Holy Trinity).”
We were six students. Silence. We could have engaged in a discussion about each person of the Trinity, distinctly but what to say about the dogma of Three in One. Somebody said, first day of school we never forget. That’s right. I am glad I remember that because on that day my class was introduced to one of the most important theologians of the church, Leonardo Boff.
Leonardo Boff is a former Franciscan monk who challenged the Roman Catholic church to review their pragmatic theology during the rise of Liberation Theology in Latin America. In that first day of class we were introduced to one of his books. The book was called “The Holy Trinity is the best Community”.
Have you ever thought why the church calendar has the Feast of Pentecost one week before the feast of the Holy Trinity?
The feast of Pentecost makes us aware of the diversity of the body of the Church. But the church is filled with imperfections and quite often some of us desire to be in a uniform and monocultural church. Even though it feels good and convenient, that desire is sinful.
The Feast of the Holy Trinity is the statement that God’s nature is diverse, and we are called to be God’s image and likeness. Diversity in this context does not mean competing with one another but empowering one another in a relationship of love.
If a community is unable to support one another in their differences, something is missing. God is missing because God is love.
When Leonardo Boff affirms “the Holy Trinity is the best Community” he wants to find the perfect model of community life in the God’s body. God itself shows us how to be community.
As Episcopalians, here in St. James we are called to follow this model of community.
The acceptance of a diverse body is what makes unique among other apostolic churches. Not many churches will have divorced people receiving the sacraments, women presiding the mass, or married clergy. In our churches, straight and gay people worship together with one voice as children of God.
Diversity in church is our gift to others. It is our gift to have beauty flowing from our different models of worship and our diverse cultures.
We are this diverse and organic body that is the reflection of the Holy Trinity. We are seeking to mirrorer (to reflect) the face of God so we can witness to the world that “it is possible to find paths of holiness”.
I pray that we all understand that the diversity of this church is not a problem but a gift that we present to the world.
One of my favorite passages from the Bible is when God says: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And the prophet Isaiah answers saying, 'Here am I. Send me!'".
Note, that God refers to himself/herself as we. Who will go for us?
Powerful God, asking for help. Three persons in One. Creator of the Universe, and asking for help. God is waiting for new prophets to rise. Each one of you must answer that call. But can we answer as one? Can we follow the example of the nature of God where the nature of One is to be diverse and in dialogue?
That is a question we will have to figure out together. Empowering each other through the celebration of our differences.
Credits:
Created with an image by Wilm Ihlenfeld - "Uraltes Steinrelief mit dem Auge der Vorsehung als Symbol für das Auge Gottes", Icon of the Holy Wisdom by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM. Bishop Barbara Harris photo and © Peter Southwick/AP. Livro: A Santíssima Trindade É A Melhor Comunidade, Ed. Vozes, Leonardo Boff photo by Mercado Livre.