The Bungee Cord 4-4-22

Hello,

Last week, my wife and I went into our back field to play fetch with our dog. I took a look up into the sky and saw I three bald eagles circling above us! (I wish I had a high powered camera. The picture that I have posted is from the internet, but it was exactly what I saw.) Sometimes they would follow each other, making a circle in the sky. Other times they would weave in and out of each other’s flight almost as if they were doing a square dance weave. They were low enough so that we could see their white tails and white heads with the naked eye. Three bald eagles in the sky. It was an amazing spectacle to take in and remember.

As I saw those three majestic birds gliding above me, it made me think about the Christian understanding of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit: the Trinity. Ever since the beginnings of Christianity, readers of the Bible have found a description of God that speaks of God’s singular entity that is expressed in three unique, but simultaneous manifestations. Three in one, and one in three. Many have tried to bring this trinitarian understanding to light through human images. They say it is like water that is found as a gas, a liquid and a sold. Or a book that has a beginning, an ending, and a middle. But both of these images fall short of the Biblical message that speaks of God as being all three distinct and also simultaneously. In my small mind, the triune being of God is beyond my human comprehension, but certainly within my human experience.

So, even those three soaring eagles do not express the exact nature of God, but in them I saw a glimpse of God’s being. One who intensely keeps watch over me with eagle sharp eyes. One whose presence is peaceful and calm, even in the midst of mighty winds. One who dances a dance of hope and joy that lifts my inmost being to join in. One who abides with me in majestic grace and power. Three soaring eagles that awoke in my imagination a slice of a vista of the nature of God who watches over me, leads me, and love me.

Jesus often said to his followers in the Bible, “Let those who have ears, listen.” It seemed to me that Jesus was saying in my ears as I stood in my back field captivated by the sky, “Let those who have eyes, see.”

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

and strengthens the powerless.

30 Even youths will faint and be weary,

and the young will fall exhausted;

31 but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40)

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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