Yesterday I turned in my final paper for my Introduction to the New Testament class, and with that push of the "send" button on the email I completed my first two semesters of seminary. I had an exam in each of my other classes earlier this week - The Church as Worshiping Community on Monday, Systematic Theology II on Tuesday and Intro to Biblical Hebrew on Wednesday. This year has flown by and been so full it is a little mind boggling. As I scan the books on my shelf and re-read papers and exams that I've submitted this year I am amazed at how much I've learned and all that I've done in eight months. (Yes I am a semiNERDian . I re-read my papers and tests).
I've already written often of how much I love this community and what a wonderful place APTS is, so I won't belabor the point other than to say that I've made some of the best friends I've ever had. I love each and every one of them and I am sad to see the seniors packing to move off of campus. Graduation is this weekend and watching them in this home stretch has made me realize just how quickly these three years go by. It makes me want to savior every moment that I can with my classmates before we too scatter from this campus to be ministers, chaplains, teachers, counselors, etc.
It also makes me excited that in late August approximately 40 new students will arrive here. Just as my class was welcomed into the fold, they will soon be an integral part of this community and added to the number of people that I love. My classmate Jo and I were asked to take on the responsibility of being Reyah Coordinators this year. Reyah is the Hebrew word for buddy or friend. The Reyah program at APTS matches incoming students with a current student to be their buddy as they transition into the community. My Reyah was Jeff Saddington, who is graduating on Sunday. He was so fantastic that I jumped at the opportunity to be coordinator in the hopes of helping the incoming class feel as welcomed as I did. Jeff emailed and called me several times last summer to see how my plans for moving to Texas were going and once I arrived was one of the friends who helped me move into my apartment. And Jeff didn't just help me feel at home when I arrived, he checked in on me throughout the year, shared study guides, took me to lunch and cheered me on as my classmates and I did some intense studying and took some major exams.
So, as I have marked several other milestones, I chose to celebrate the end of my first year with a new tattoo that was inspired by something I read last semester in Cindy Rigby's Systematic Theology I class. I have had a tattoo of three fish on my right forearm for several years. It is an ancient Christian symbol which represents the trinity as well as the secret "code" used by the early church to represent Christ (ΙΧΘΥΣ). This is the Greek word for "fish" which was an acronym for "Jesus Christ Son of God Savior." While reading Dan Migliore's Faith Seeking Understanding (our textbook for Sys I) I came across a different way to name the Trinity and it immediately resonated with me. Instead of "Father Son & Holy Ghost" this said "Lover Beloved & Love." I decided that I wanted that around or near my fish tattoo and this week I got it done.
WARNING - SemiNERDian ramblings about to commence....
A common critique of this way of naming the trinity is that it reduces the Holy Spirit to a byproduct between the Lover and the Beloved, but I don't agree with this limited view of Love.
This is very similar to the original debate that caused the great split between the Eastern and Western church over the filioque clause in the Nicene Creed. Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father or from the Father "and the Son"? Don't both of these see the Holy Spirit as something that is coming from one or both of the other parts of the trinity? Isn't that a by-product too? The whole idea of the trinity is that God is by definition in relationship and you can't have one part without the other two, and no one part is greater than the others. So I don't see this way as being any worse than the more traditional creedal way of naming the trinity. In fact I think it is better because it does away with the patriarchal language of father and son. There are many for whom these images of God are stumbling blocks and talk of spirit or ghost is too mystical and hard to wrap their heads around. But we all know love. And love isn't just something you do. It isn't a byproduct. I don't even think it is a choice. I think love just is, all by itself.
There are many instances in scripture where love is talked about as an entity, not a byproduct. It is personified and has characteristics.
Song of Songs 2:7, 3:5, 8:4 "do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready"
Song of Songs 8:7 "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it."
1 Corinthians 13:4 "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not arrogant or boastful"
1 Corinthians 13:8 "Love never ends"
14:1 "Pursue love and strive for spiritual gifts"
But I think the strongest case for seeing love as being a way to name the Holy Spirit is this -
1 John 4:16 "God is love, and those that abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them"
Lastly, here is a video that the seniors put together for our last fellowship together.
Congratulations Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Class of 2011!!!!!!!!!!
