St. Joseph of the Lakes

So God created mankind in his own image,in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Gen 1:27

As the author of Genesis reflects on the creation of humanity, it is interesting that God makes us in his image in the midst of a community not a singularity. Male and female he created them and they in turn are encouraged to leave their fathers and mothers and unite to each other to become one flesh.  (Genesis 2:24) This is as close as we can get to what God looks like and how he operates. When we use the term God we are actually speaking of three distinct essences that in relation to each other become the One God. It is in their relationship to each other that we come to know them. This happens to Abraham when he meets God. He looks up and sees three men standing near-by. He stands up and runs to them and greets them asking if they would stay so that he might refresh them. (Gen 18:2) It is at that moment that he is told that in the next year his wife Sarah would finally give birth to the long promised next generation. 

God is not singular, but too often that is how we attempt to define him. Jesus will say to those around him: “when you see me you see the father, when you hear me you hear the Father.  The Father and I are One.” John 14:7-9. Yet, too often we sound like Phillip who says to Jesus: just show us the Father and that will be enough for us. He will also tell them that he has to ascend into heaven so that the Father will send the Advocate (the Holy Spirit) who will teach us everything (Jn. 16:7). All this is pointing to a very intertwined community of persons who we know as God. 

In the primary community of marriage the husband and wife form a new community that expresses itself in the children they are blessed with. Each child is a combination of both parents and each grows in their own particular fashion but they are still expressions of the union of husband and wife. They become the strongest expression of the One flesh created by the union of the two. In the rearing of the children this unity becomes more revealed as the partners form a somewhat singular pattern of expectation and offer their nurturing care to their children. The nurturing is always guided by the needs of the individual child, yet there is a broadness of care that extends across the entire family group. 

If you want to gain a deeper insight into who God is, look to the married couples around you. Contemplate their relationship with each other and their families. I think all the theology we have trying to express the Trinity tends to cloud the revelation that was first announced to us in the first chapter of the first book of the bible.