the great mystery

I have found this semester’s classes to be incredibly stimulating thus far. Two of my classes pertain to one of my minor concentrations, World Religions. Surprisingly, though my school is a secular one and these classes are not taught solely from a biblical perspective, I have already found myself to be encouraged spiritually by the content taught in the past week. 

In my "Christian Thought and Culture" class, my professor shared this quote by Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity: 

No sooner do I conceive of the One than I am illumined by the Splendor of the Three; no sooner do I distinguish Them than I am carried back to the One. When I think of any One of the Three I think of Him as the Whole, and my eyes are filled, and the greater part of what I am thinking escapes me. I cannot grasp the greatness of That One so as to attribute a greater greatness to the Rest. When I contemplate the Three together, I see but one torch, and cannot divide or measure out the Undivided Light - Gregory of Nazianzus 

Isn't that so beautiful? The Great Mystery of the Trinity is a hard one to explain. I believe it can be experienced, but attempting to use words to interpret the divine, exquisite complexity of the Trinity doesn't do it justice. 

I like using words, and I like trying to explain things and using images to make concepts clear. Yet, as Gregory of Nazianzus demonstrates in this passage, the Three Times Holy God simply can't be deduced. It is revealed to us. We can attempt to describe it through admiration and worship as he does here, but using words and attempts at explanations somehow diminishes the experience. 

I have a pretty rational spirituality. I'm not one to "feel" things and "experience" profound spiritual revelations. I tend to think things through and come to conclusions. 

But I have been finding myself having to challenge this tendency when it comes to my understanding of God. 

I am realizing that, in love, God made us incapable of fully grasping Him. Would He really be an Almighty God if He were bound by human rationale? 

I'm learning to praise and thank Him for the mysteries and the questions unanswered. They keep us in awe of Him. And they reduce us so He can be raised. 

Trinity, by Andrei Rublev.