March:April 2017 FCM Newsletter 2

fcm member...dan pellegrin
Newsletter - March/April 2017 VOL. 51 NO. 2
This Trinity Icon is given very special meaning by Richard Rohr in his book,
The Divine Dance and Your Transformation. It was transformative for me,
and so I would like to share it with you.
Rohr starts the book: “The Blessed Trinity is supposed to be a central – or
the paramount – foundational doctrine of our entire Christian belief system.
And yet we’re told, at least I was told as a young boy in Kansas, that we
shouldn’t try to understand it.” It’s a mystery, we were told. But he adds:
“Remember, mystery isn’t something that you cannot understand – it is
something that you can endlessly understand.”
He continues: “Whatever is going on in God, is a flow, a radical relatedness,
a perfect communion between Three – a circle dance of love."
“And God is not just a dancer; God is the dance itself.”
Rohr then spends time with this icon called “The Trinity.” It depicts the three
at a table, loving each other and sharing a meal. But at the table there is a
space for a fourth, and it’s believed the artist put a small mirror there, so the
gazer could see that he/she was meant to be the fourth at the table, with the
hand of the Spirit pointing toward the open and fourth place at the table,
inviting, offering, and clearing space. For you – the Observer! The icon
captures all the following life-giving, blessing, and energizing thought.
The Trinity by St. Andrei Rublev
“At the heart of Christian revelation, God is not seen as a distant, static monarch, but – as we will explore together – a divine
circle dance.... My fondest hope would be that these pages would reposition you in the mirror of divine fellowship, with a
place at the table.... All creation is invited in, and this is the liberation God intended from the very beginning...."
“Are you ready to take your place at this wondrous table? Can you imagine that you are already a part of the dance?"
“Then let’s begin to explore both how and why!”
Rohr calls for a paradigm shift: a major conversion, a genuine transformation of worldview. Rohr sees history as operating
with a static and imperial image of God – as a Supreme Monarch who is mostly living in splendid isolation from the world –
and God is always and exclusively envisioned as male in this model – he created. This God is seen largely as a Critical
Spectator (and his followers do their level best to imitate their Creator in this regard).
Rohr sees God: “Instead of God being the Eternal Threatener, we have God as the Ultimate Participant – in everything – both
the good and the painful."
“How about God being the Life Force of everything?.... How about God being the Life Energy between each and every object
(which we would usually call Love or Spirit)?”
“Theologically, of course, this revolution repositions grace as inherent to creation, not as an occasional additive that some
people occasionally merit...."
“This God is the very one who we have named ‘Trinity’ – the flow who flows through everything, without exception, and who
has done so since the beginning."
“Thus, everything is holy, for those who have learned how to see.”
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