Grace Baby, Grace

Love, Grace, and Unity

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

This image is an icon titled The Trinity by 15th century artist Andrei Rublev. It contains enormous symbolism regarding his thoughts on the triune God. While the painting contains way too much symbolism to go into here, I recommend that anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the Trinity to look it up and read about it. However, the  I was reading about the painting The Trinity stated that it was "inspired by Abraham’s visitation by three angels (Gen. 18:1–10), which is analogous to the three persons of the Trinity. In the icon, the Trinity sits equidistantly in a circular fashion at a table with a chalice bowl at the center. The circle denotes infinite connectivity and unity without distinct sides.  The chalice bowl symbolizes communion and love, as the divine persons experience a communion of unending love rooted in total unity." Another chalice is contained in the negative space between the left (God) and right (Holy Spirit) figures. The stem of this chalice is between the legs of God and the Spirit and inside this chalice is Jesus.

What would it do for our witness if we patterned our relationships with others after Rublev's interpretation of the Trinity? What if we stopped drawing battle lines to divide us? What if we remembered that the battle isn't ours but God's and he has already won it? What if, instead, we admitted that there are things only God understands and embrace each other with all of the attributes of our Triune Creator; the love of God, the grace of Jesus, and the unity of the Holy Spirit.

Love, Grace, and Unity Rev. Cheryl Farr
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