Trinity: A Reflection on Holy Wisdom, the Feminine Face of God

This is Trinity Sunday in the cycle of the lectionary.  If you are not familiar with the concept of the Trinity you would probably understand from the word itself that is has to do with the number "3." Many (some would say most) Christians are Trinitarian, which means they (or at least their faith tradition) believe there is One God in three distinct persons ... or in some circles three unique persons in One God.  I find this doctrine (teaching) of the church to be one of the most misunderstood ... people ask, "so do you believe in one God or three Gods?"  I'm not sure I've ever come across a satisfactory answer for anyone who has asked me, BUT I do know from my seminary education :) that we do not believe there is one God, three "roles" in one.  God doesn't operate in one role sometimes and one of the other roles at other times.  This is a heresy called "modalism."   A heresy is a belief that is contrary to formal church doctrine.  And of course no one would want to be accused of heresy!  So whether you understand the doctrine or not, let's just say we do and we won't get into trouble with the heresy police ... LOL, of course in our corner of the world "they" don't have much power!  But in our own Christian history and in some darker corners of the world today, people ARE killed for heresy, many of them women. 

Oh and BTW, modes are NOT images of course!  The bible is FILLED with images of God.  Read the Gospel of John if you wonder what I mean by images.  These are images that Jesus uses of himself: Bread of Life, Light of the World, Gate, Good Shepherd, Resurrection and Life, Way Truth Life, and Vine.  These are the 7 "I AM" statements that John uses to talk about Jesus.  He is not physically bread, light, a vine or a gate but each of these things tell us about him.

And what about feminine images ... Source: Women's Ordination Conference
Hosea 11:3-4 God described as a mother, Hosea 13:8 God described as a mother bear, Deuteronomy 32:11-12 God described as a mother eagle, Deuteronomy 32:18 God who gives birth, Isaiah 66:13 God as a comforting mother, Isaiah 49:15 God compared to a nursing mother, Isaiah 42:14 God as a woman in labor, Jeremiah 44:25 Queen of Heaven, Psalm131:2 God as a Mother, Psalm 123:2-3 God compared to a woman, Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 God as a Mother Hen, Luke 15:8-10 God as woman looking for her lost coin

In a sense all we can ever know are images, echoes of a God that is so expansive we can explore from here to eternity and never know the inner edges of God.  Thomas Merton says, "If I penetrate to the depths of my own existence and my own present reality, the indefinable am that is myself in its deepest roots, then through this deep center I pass into the infinite I am which is the very Name of the Almighty."  Merton and other mystics teach us that in knowing self, we will know God ... in knowing God we will know the self.  Merton ... way deep, right?

Friends, in a very traditional way we bless people in the name of "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."  This is our proclamation of the Trinity.  A more modern rendering that I see and hear is "Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer."  From the title of my writing this week you can probably sense that my personal preference is the later for it's inclusive language.   You would be right!

However that is only a preference.  In some ways Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer do not feel as personal and intimate as the familial relationships that are reflected in Father, Son ... and here is where you should make sure the heresy police are not hiding outside the door of your heart!   BUT is it not time to let the feminine image of God shine not only hidden in our hearts but ringing out in our liturgy?  Would you believe the first time I heard God referred to as "Her" in an affirmation of faith at a small evening communion service at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, I wept!  "She" was no long hidden!  Sadly, that is the ONLY time I have ever heard God referred to as Her in a public worship service.  And I confess, dear reader, that each week I help design and lead a traditional/semi-contemplative/communion worship service :( 

In Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah, "Shechinah emerges -- the mythic figure of the the Kabbalah associated with God's feminine and unconditionally loving side."  (Estelle Frankel, Sacred Therapy, Jewish Spiritual Teachings on Emotional Healing and Wholeness, p 191)  The stories of Shechinah evolved in Talmudic legend as a corrective to the "overly punitive judgmental and patriarchal image of God" that we find in the Jewish Bible.  The Shechinah is often referred to as the manifestation of God's glory.  Carolyn Jane Bohler defines Shechinah as "hovering presence."  (God the what? What our Metaphors for God Reveal about our Beliefs in God, p 63)  If I am honest, dear reader, I have felt the presence of the Shechinah while deep in prayer.  And this only inspires me to continue to seek not only the feminine image of God, but the feminine "person" in the Trinity.  Can I tell you that when I read "God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them" (CEB) I wonder, if I am made in the image of God, where can I find the image I am made in?  

So where can we find the feminine "person" of the Trinity?  Let's turn to one of the Wisdom writers of the Jewish Bible, the writer of Proverbs, traditionally known as Solomon.  I am thrilled to have an opportunity to read, study and reflect on a fascinatingly lovely biblical passage with hints of the feminine God ... the female "person" in the Godhead, IMHO.  Joyce Rupp once asked this question of herself, "Just what, or who, is this beautiful figure that Proverbs describes as a partner with the Holy One?"  ("Desperately Seeking Sophia" www.uscatholic.org, a great read including an explanation of how Sophia got "lost" in  the early days of Christianity)  Note: Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom, translated from the Hebrew word Chokmah.

On a day when we honor the Trinity, I invite you to read HER story. 

This passage is too long for a traditional session of lectio divina which should not exceed 10 verses for a deeply contemplative experience.  Rather, take time to read each line slowly and drink in the lovely images the writer of Proverbs has provided.  Pause between reach line and listen for God calling you in a new way.  Perhaps if there is a line that calls to you, you might stop and dwell with the words or the image that emerges.  Another suggestion would be to practice lectio with just a few verses each day this week.  In the spirit of inclusivity I am using an egalitarian translation of Proverbs 8:1-4 and 22-31.  Enjoy!

Doesn’t Wisdom call?

Doesn’t Understanding raise her voice?

On the hills along the road,

at the crossroads,

she takes her stand;

beside the city gates of the town,

in the gates themselves, she cries out, “Women and men, 

people everywhere,

I’m calling out to you!

I cry out to all of humankind!

“YHWH gave birth to me at the beginning,

before the first acts of creation.

I have been from everlasting,

in the beginning, before the world began.

Before the deep seas, I was brought forth,

before there were fountains or springs of water;

before the mountains erupted up into place,

before the hills,

I was born— before God created the earth or its fields,

or even the first clods of dirt.

I was there when the almighty created the heavens,

and set the horizon just above the ocean,

set the clouds in the sky,

and established the springs of the deep,

gave the seas their boundaries

and set their limits at the shoreline.

When the foundation of the earth was laid out,

I was the skilled artisan standing next to the Almighty.

I was God’s delight day after day,

rejoicing at being in God’s presence continually,

rejoicing in the whole world and delighting in humankind. 

Priests for Equality (2009-03-16). The Inclusive Bible (p. 444). Sheed & Ward. Kindle Edition.


Amen!  Amen!  Amen!

Icon of Holy Wisdom/Sophia, St. George Church in Vologda, unknown author late 16th c, in 

public domain

A Prayer to Sophia ... 

 Source of Inner Luminosity,
thank you for being a loving radiance.
May the lantern of your perpetual goodness
always shine in me and through me.

                        ~Joyce Rupp 

 

Psalm 1 God of the Trees

The “Psalms” is the Prayer Book of the Hebrew People.  It is also a beautiful book of poetry.   The Psalms were meant to be read out loud and treasured in the heart of the people of God.  And so they have been.   Jesus loved the psalms, memorized and quoted them extensively to express himself and his relationship with God.  Even as Jesus hung, dying on the cross, he had the word of God on his lips.   
 
 

 
Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm … 
the line you may remember is  
“Happy are those {whose} delight is in the law of the Lord…
they are like trees planted by streams of water.”
  



 

This week we read Psalm 1 in 4 different versions/paraphrases as pray and listen.   This week, read out loud the ancient words.   I invite you to spend a few moments preparing your heart for Lectio Divina (sacred reading of the biblical text) with a simple breath prayer.  Use this one or create your own (six to eight syllables) repeating the words as you breathe.   

          Breathe in ... Creating God (pause)

               Breath out ... give me wisdom (pause)

  and when you are ready to move deeper into the text ... Pray:

God of the Psalms, the beauty of your Word fills me with awe.  As I read each word, open my heart and allow me to pray with understanding and fill me with knowledge so that I might walk down the path you have chosen for me.  Amen.  
Read Psalm 1 aloud slowly from The Common English Bible (CEB) which is a "new" translation from 2011.  Simply let these words be proclaimed in the world and in your own heart.   
 

The truly happy person
    doesn’t follow wicked advice,
    doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,
    and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful.
Instead of doing those things,
    these persons love the Lord’s Instruction,
    and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!
They are like a tree replanted by streams of water,
    which bears fruit at just the right time
    and whose leaves don’t fade.
        Whatever they do succeeds.
That’s not true for the wicked!
    They are like dust that the wind blows away.
And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—
    neither will sinners
    in the assembly of the righteous.
The Lord is intimately acquainted
    with the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked is destroyed.  

Read Psalm 1 aloud slowly from The Good News Translation (GNT) first published in 1976 and Reflect on just a word or phrase …   Sit with your selection and listen to the whispers of God.   Repeat your word or phrase over and over in your mind.  Let the God of the Trees speak ... Listen with the ears of your heart!   

Happy are those
    who reject the advice of evil people,
    who do not follow the example of sinners
    or join those who have no use for God.
Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord,
    and they study it day and night.
They are like trees that grow beside a stream,
    that bear fruit at the right time,
    and whose leaves do not dry up.
They succeed in everything they do.
But evil people are not like this at all;
    they are like straw that the wind blows away.
Sinners will be condemned by God
    and kept apart from God's own people.
The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord,
    but the evil are on the way to their doom.

Read Psalm 1 aloud slowly from The Message, a paraphrase by Eugene Peterson first written in 1993 and Respond to God.   Once again turn your attention to your word or phrase, knowing that you may be drawn to a different word on this reading.    As you contemplate your word or phrase or commandment, are you being called to respond, in word … prayer … action … or in some other way?   If so, how are you being called?

How well God must like you—
    you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,
    you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,
    you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.
Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
    you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
    bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
    always in blossom.
You’re not at all like the wicked,
    who are mere windblown dust—
Without defense in court,
    unfit company for innocent people.
God charts the road you take.
The road they take is Skid Row.

Read Psalm 1 aloud slowly from Rejoice, Beloved Woman: The Psalms Revisioned by Barbara J. Monda.  She says, "I have not translated the Psalms: I have rewritten them ... attempted to remain true to the theme of the psalmist" while offering "women the experience of having, among other things, God in her own image and words that portray a female way of being that embodies strength and nurturing." (p. 9)   My hope in this last movement of sacred reading is that you, whether you are a woman or a man, can Rest in this fresh personal recitation of Psalm 1.  

As you read, allow God to nurture you and draw you deeper into the relationship of love that God has with you. 

Happy are you who trust in the counsel of wise women.  They guide you to a right heart.
You will delight in their words and you will see wonder in all things that image them.
In both night and day, there is light that gives vision and there is light that blinds.
Be cautious of people who claim too much.  
They may be thieves eager to steal attention and feast on the unsuspecting who have eagerly revealed themselves.  
Filled, they go off and leave behind the empty shells of those too willing to be open, expecting more than an ordinary day offers.
The holy among you appear as any other.  Their counsel, however, comes from truth aligned to all there is; they exaggerate nothing.  
It is by the gift that the giver is known.  See what you have when a woman leaves your presence; are you empty or connected to goodness?  
A good woman tuned to herself speaks the truth and no more.  She believes God made her in her own image, with no regrets.  
Planted in the presence of these wise ones, you are like trees nourished by the fruit that falls on you and yet sheltered from a burning sun.  
Of their bounty you benefit, yet there is no cost to you in their giving.  A holy woman rooted in God creates harmony from noise.

As you rest, let all the words fade away ... until you are ready to take up your journal and write about your meditation.  When you are ready to move out of your meditation …

Pray:  God of the Trees, I want to be planted and rooted deeply at the edge of your Presence.  Let streams of living water and bountiful fruitfulness nourish my soul and fill me with life!  Amen.

Cindy's Reflection ... O God, you are the God of the Trees ... real trees and trees like me.  I am like a tree ... sometimes feeling my roots digging deeply, stretching down into the earth to drink of the living waters of the underground well.  Yet, sometimes feeling like my roots are shrinking and working their way to the surface.  O God, God of the Trees ... you are my Mother, you nurture my shrinking roots as I grow.  Bless me with living water today and I shall live long and tall alongside the mighty trees by the rivers and streams!  Amen. 

If you have time, take this Link to Youtube:  Psalm 1 Hebrew
In this video you can hear the reading of Psalm 1 in the Hebrew language accompanied by "Air on the G String" by Johann Sebastian Bach while an original painting by Ilan Mizrahi an Israeli artist scrolls through.  Perhaps, like me, you don’t know Hebrew but this is so beautifully read that I feel Psalm 1 deep in the soul … especially after having read Psalm 1 in several versions.

Wisdom Shouts in the Streets: Come and Listen!

"Wisdom" is the English equivalent of the Greek word Sophia, translated from the Hebrew word Hokhmah.   In Christian theology/mysticism "wisdom" often describes an aspect of the nature of God but many find the feminine image of God in Wisdom. In our passage this week, Wisdom is personified as a woman and we join her as she "shouts in the streets."  In an article entitled, "Wisdom Builds a Poem: The Architecture of Proverbs 1:20-33, Phyllis Trible says,

WISDOM is a woman of many talents. In the Book of Proverbs she appears first as a poet who preaches, counsels, teaches, and prophesies. Her podium is the public arena; there she speaks to all sorts and conditions of people.

Proverbs is located in the "Writings" or the Ketuvim (in the TaNaK) section of the Jewish bible. It is one of the major works along with Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes and seven other minor works.  In the Writings we find a poetic ode to truth ... we find wisdom and we meet Wisdom!

I invite you to spend a few moments preparing your heart to become receptive to the Word of God through the eyes of the writer of Proverbs.  Breathe deeply and allow yourself to open your heart and your mind to God's Presence within you.  Breathe deeply and allow a breath prayer to arise from deep within you and repeat your prayer until you feel the peace of God wash over you.  Then you are ready to listen for the gentle whispers of God.  Use this prayer or create your own (six to eight syllables) 

          Breathe in ... Sweet Wisdom (pause)     Breath out ... Help me listen! (pause)

and when you are ready to move deeper into the text ... Pray:  Sweet Wisdom, Mother God ... I hear you shouting, I hear you calling to me.  Come and listen, come and listen.  My deepest desire is to hear your voice.  Speak to me and help me hear the words I need to hear.  Amen.   

Let us follow Guido II, a medieval Christian leader into prayerful reflection through Lectio Divina

Lectio ... Read Proverbs 1:20-33 aloud and simply savor the words as you read.  Read the text a second time notice what you notice.   Was there a word or phrase that shimmered as you read?  Say the word or phrase aloud several times focusing your attention.

Wisdom shouts in the streets.    She cries out in the public square.
She calls to the crowds along the main street,
    to those gathered in front of the city gate:
“How long, you simpletons,
    will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
    How long will you fools hate knowledge?
Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
    and make you wise.

“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.
    I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
You ignored my advice
    and rejected the correction I offered.
So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
    I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—
when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
    when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
    and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

“When they cry for help, I will not answer.
    Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
For they hated knowledge
    and chose not to fear the Lord.
They rejected my advice
    and paid no attention when I corrected them.
Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
    choking on their own schemes.
For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
    Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
But all who listen to me will live in peace,
    untroubled by fear of harm.”

Meditatio ... Read the passage again and Reflect as you consider, "Where does my word/phrase touch my life?  What is God saying to me through this passage?"

Oratio ... Read the passage again and Respond as you consider, "Is there an invitation for me in this passage?  How do I want to respond to the call I sense from God?"

Contemplatio ... Simply Rest in the Silence of God's gentle Presence.  As you emerge from your silence perhaps you might consider this artwork by Hildegard of Bingen from around 1165

The work of art depicted in this image and the reproduction thereof are in the public domain worldwide. 
The reproduction is part of a collection of reproductions compiled by The Yorck Project. The compilation copyright is held by Zenodot Verlagsgesellschaft mbH and licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

When you are ready to emerge from your time of Prayer and Relfection, perhaps you might use this poem by Vladimir Solovyev, from Three Meetings, 1875 as your closing prayer.  

What is, what was, what shall forever be -
All, all was held here in one steady gaze...
The seas and rivers blue beneath me,
Distant woods, snow-capped peaks.

I saw all, and all was one --
A single image of womanly beauty...
Pregnant with vastnesses!
Before me, in me -- only You.

Amen ...

Cindy's Meditation ... O Wisdom, you are my mother and my friend!  And how the memories come flooding back to me.  You waited for me as I played the simpleton and ate the fruit of living my own way.  How you must have laughed at me and grieved for me.  Any yet, you were waiting for me when I came home.  I have learned to listen for your voice and heed your presence ... I live in peace!