The Spirit Is The Breath Of All Creature - Hildegard of Bingen

Healthy Religion - Richard Rohr

The Trinity: The System Update Christianity Needs - Cynthia Bourgeault

Trinitarian Revolution - Richard Rohr

Richard Rohr - The Divine Dance

Father Richard Rohr on embracing Perichoresis instead of "Mere Monotheism."

Into Your Hands: Good Friday Reading - Jeff Wiersma

"Then Jesus said, 'Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!' And with those words, he exhaled - and breathed no more." - Luke 23:46

If death was to be truly defeated, it was only by dying himself that Jesus believed he could defeat it. If God was to reach the hearts of humanity, it was only by suffering his own heart to be broken on our behalf that he believed it could happen.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience; a time when making the right choice – taking the action that will make things right or bring reconciliation – will cost you in some way?

So it was with Jesus. As he breathes his last, he says, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.”

It’s interesting to note that Jesus didn’t say, “I guess God isn’t listening, I’ll just give up” or “I guess I will die alone here, this was pointless.”

As his body can no longer endure the unbearable pain and despite feeling forsaken by God - indeed, quite a cost to pay - Jesus completed the work of love and surrendered his spirit.

This is where we see a God who loved the world so much that he gave the world himself - freely and completely.

And that act of selfless love made it possible for us to participate in God’s kingdom; where our acts of selfless love can help to bring healing and recovery, can remove blinders, can be good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed.

God’s kingdom - coming alive on earth as it is in heaven - is where darkness and death are pushed back by light and life.

That’s eternal hope.

Lament Is An Act Of Faith: Good Friday Reading - Jeff Wiersma

Around mid afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” - Matthew 27:46

As Jesus spoke those words, all was lost. As far as he can see, God is not there for him. Jesus was overtaken with the sense that God seemed to remain mysteriously distant.

When Jesus cries out those words on the cross, he is quoting Psalm 22. In the tradition of other Jewish prophets, Jesus is lamenting the suffering he is experiencing - expressing his grief and sorrow. It’s in many ways similar to how Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before, asking if there was any other way - beside the cross - to accomplish what needed to be done. His words are a question, not a declaration.

In both instances, the answer is the same - God the Father doesn’t rescue Jesus by using some miraculous power. Restoration of the intimate relationship between God and creation will not come from above or at a distance.

God must also suffer with creation.

So Jesus cries out in utter distress, suffering such unbearable pain that he is questioning God; demanding to know why it seems that God has abandoned him at such a desperate time.

And who hasn’t felt this way when going through their own “valley of the shadow of death?” – awful experiences like a losing a loved one, the rupturing of a family or relationship, a doctor’s phone call relaying a much-feared diagnosis.

Yet Jesus refused to be silent. This is because lament and questioning are acts of genuine trust in God; their use assumes that God is listening. If that wasn’t the assumption, what would be the point in lamenting or questioning since no one is there to hear it?

Lament is firmly grounded in hope; that rugged, more earthy and muscular cousin of optimism.

So even though he feels forsaken and abandoned, even though he is in the midst of unimaginable suffering - Jesus still believes that God is listening.

That’s eternal hope.

The Mystery Of The Cross: Good Friday Reading - Jeff Wiersma

"The cross is a paradox – a mystery. Why would a symbol of execution – a cross of all things – be the chief symbol of Christianity?" - Frederick Buecher 

Have you ever wondered why a tool of execution – a cross of all things – would be the chief symbol of Christianity? The cross is a strange symbol for the church to use when you stop and think about it.

A cross?!? It might as well be a gallows or an electric chair, right?

 And Good Friday … the day that Jesus was killed on a cross; if you’re like me, you’ve wondered what exactly is good about that?!?

The mystery of the cross and what’s “good” about Good Friday are both part of the greater mystery of God the Trinity; who is 3 persons in one being - Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit - living in selfless relationship - whose very essence is love.

To make that same kind of close, loving relationship possible between the divine and us, this God chooses to become human. God becomes a vulnerable child - completely dependent on human care - to begin the work of removing the distance between humanity and the divine.

That vulnerable child grew into the Jesus that was nailed to the cross. On that cross, God often looks unrecognizable to us - because we’re so used to thinking of God as all-powerful. But there’s Jesus nailed to the cross; overpowered, humiliated and suffering unbearable pain.

But here’s the twist; the cross is actually the instance where God is most fully revealed - since God’s very nature is selfless, giving love. In being crucified, Jesus brings the realities of suffering, pain, rejection and humiliation back into the life that is God the Trinity - completing the work of removing the distance between God and humanity.

This is why the cross - that brutal tool of execution - also gives us a reason for eternal hope. It shows us the life-giving, selfless love of a God that chooses to suffer alongside with - and out of care for - creation. It’s another example of God’s willingness to be vulnerable so that we can have genuine relationship.

As well all know, real, healthy relationship can’t exist without vulnerability. We’ve all seen examples of this in healthy marriages, families or friendships. It’s only works when we are willing to be open and accommodating with each other. That’s the posture God took in this mission to restore relationship with us; being willing to risk being hurt and rejected – even going as far as death!

What wondrous love.

The God Who Suffers - Dorothee Soelle