Dancing with God (By Dr. Annie Bullock, Theology Instructor)

One of my favorite things about teaching theology is thinking with students about foundational life questions. For the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring what it means to be human, which is really the most basic question we can ask about ourselves. Approaching the question philosophically means exploring questions about the mind. Is our consciousness just the result of electrical impulses in our brains or is it something more? Is our life something that occurs naturally or is it a supernatural occurrence, the result of God’s breath in us. If we conclude that there is a spiritual element to humanity, we have to ask theological questions about it. What do scripture and the tradition tell us about who we are? What makes us different from the animals and sets us apart? We might be tempted to conclude that it’s our rational capacity, and there is something to that, but it isn’t enough of an answer, in the end. That’s why Christianity ultimately holds that we are human because we have been created in God’s image.

Jesus is our best example of true, full humanity because he perfectly embodies it. But he’s also God, and that’s ultimately where we find our definition of God’s image. God is three persons united in relationship to one another, and we are meant to be in relationship, too--with God and with other people. The persons of the Trinity model the kind of other-focused, self-sacrificing love we are meant to have. There’s a Greek word for this dance-like movement of the Trinity: perichoresis. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit circle one another and we are meant to leave behind our self-centeredness and join with God in a dance of self-giving service and love.

These have been helpful conversations for the current moment when we are all feeling the strain that comes with experiencing so many barriers to relationships. It’s hard to connect authentically over Zoom. Even a mask can feel like an obstacle since it blocks expressions and makes it hard to be heard and understood. The fact that we feel the strain tells us we are human. And as human beings, we are meant to keep striving to understand ourselves and one another so that we can connect fully and authentically and love one another as God meant us to love one another.
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