DAL CAPO (26 OF 52)
Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5, John 1:1-5
This content is part of a series.
Dal Capo (26 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Genesis 1:1-5; John 1:1-5
Sometimes we need a fresh start. Sometimes we need to go back to the beginning to see life from a new perspective, looking at what seems old hat from new eyes. We don't always do that effectively. It's hard to look at something we think we know well from a fresh perspective. It's hard to set aside our received history, interpretation, tradition, culture, and really take a new look at what has been before us as far back as we can remember. In a music score, we often go back to the beginning, notated by the phrase ''dal capo,'' Italian for from the cover. We may expect a repeat of what we have just played, sung, heard, or experienced. Normally, however, there is a shift that may take us by surprise.
Today is Trinity Sunday when we recognize the various ways God comes to us, revealing the complexity of character and the unity of essence and purpose we find in God's self-revelation. We read passages of Scripture speaking of God as Father, Son, and Spirit. We find other expressions that would cast God in the guise of mother, lover, healer, shepherd, and king. Sometimes we become so comfortable with the classic notions of our Trinitarian formulas we forget that while Scripture points us toward the concept of the Trinity, it is a doctrine crafted to help us make sense of Scripture.
We often end up reading into a text something that may or may not actually be there. We look at a passage from a perspective it cannot possibly share with us. Often as not, the Scriptures place much more emphasis on the unity of God than in the distinctions we overplay between Father, Spirit, and Son. Just like trying to force God into a box of our doctrinal crafting, it does not work for us to try to force distinctions within God beyond the limits of what Scripture tells us. Judaism and Islam both place a lot of stress upon the singularity of God, a concept we could often do well recal ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Genesis 1:1-5; John 1:1-5
Sometimes we need a fresh start. Sometimes we need to go back to the beginning to see life from a new perspective, looking at what seems old hat from new eyes. We don't always do that effectively. It's hard to look at something we think we know well from a fresh perspective. It's hard to set aside our received history, interpretation, tradition, culture, and really take a new look at what has been before us as far back as we can remember. In a music score, we often go back to the beginning, notated by the phrase ''dal capo,'' Italian for from the cover. We may expect a repeat of what we have just played, sung, heard, or experienced. Normally, however, there is a shift that may take us by surprise.
Today is Trinity Sunday when we recognize the various ways God comes to us, revealing the complexity of character and the unity of essence and purpose we find in God's self-revelation. We read passages of Scripture speaking of God as Father, Son, and Spirit. We find other expressions that would cast God in the guise of mother, lover, healer, shepherd, and king. Sometimes we become so comfortable with the classic notions of our Trinitarian formulas we forget that while Scripture points us toward the concept of the Trinity, it is a doctrine crafted to help us make sense of Scripture.
We often end up reading into a text something that may or may not actually be there. We look at a passage from a perspective it cannot possibly share with us. Often as not, the Scriptures place much more emphasis on the unity of God than in the distinctions we overplay between Father, Spirit, and Son. Just like trying to force God into a box of our doctrinal crafting, it does not work for us to try to force distinctions within God beyond the limits of what Scripture tells us. Judaism and Islam both place a lot of stress upon the singularity of God, a concept we could often do well recal ...
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