The partners in a ballroom dance, it seems to me, need to learn to think and move as one. At times, they will dance the same synchronised steps, perhaps as a mirror image of the other. At other points in the dance they will have different steps to dance, perhaps as one spins away from the other or is lifted from the dance floor by their partner. But at all times they must know where their partner is, where they are in relation to their partner, what their partner will do next, and for both to be in time with the music.
In ballroom dancing, the male and female partners interact “within a rhythm which remains the same but in a continuous variety of movements.” At its best, you have two people totally in tune with one another for the period of that dance.
What has this to do with Trinity Sunday? Well, the answer is found in “the Greek word for the relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit [which] means ‘to dance around one another in relationship’, perichoresis – peri meaning around, and choreio to dance.” (Touching the Sacred, Chris Thorpe and Jake Lever, Canterbury Press)
Stephen Verney, a former Bishop of Repton, who explored this idea in several of his books, identified chapter 5 of John’s Gospel as being “the most accurate and penetrating description of that dance” (The Dance of Love, Stephen Verney, Fount):
“The religious authorities have accused Jesus of making himself equal to God, and he replies in words which move beyond the category of equality, and into the language of love. “The Son can do nothing of himself”, he says, “but only what he sees the Father doing” (v.19). That is one side of the equation (of this so-called equality) – the emptiness of the Son. He looks, and what he sees his Father doing, that he does; he listens, and what he hears his Father saying, that he says. The other side of the equation – of the choreography – is the generosity of the Father. “The Father loves the Son, and reveals to him everything which he is doing” (v.20), and furthermore, he gives him authority to do “out of himself” all that the Father does, and can never cease to do because it flows “out of himself”. In that dance of love between them, says Jesus, “I and the Father are one.” The Son cries, “Abba! Father!” and the Father cries “my beloved Son”, and the love which leaps between them is Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God, God himself, for God is Spirit and God is Love.”
So, the kind of at-oneness that we see in great ballroom dancers gives us a picture of the kind of togetherness and understanding that is found in the Godhead and constantly shared between Father, Son and Spirit, as each is found in the other. Stephen Verney writes that “The Greek Fathers called the perichoresis (peri: around, chora: place), the dance of love of the Trinity in which they give place to each other. This is the glory revealed in Jesus, as the Father and the Son give authority to each other in mutual interdependence, and as the creator and the creation interpenetrate each other.”
Now, in the words of Paul Simon’s new album, we could say ‘So beautiful or so what’ to these ideas. It’s all very well picturing a beautiful dance at the heart of the Trinity but what difference does that make to us?
In answer to that question, Verney says that the eternal dance of the Trinity in heaven is reflected in the creation and we are invited to join in. At the heart of the Godhead is a relationship of love where love is constantly being shared and exchanged between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is out of the relationship of love that Jesus comes into our world to open up a way for us to participate in the relationship of love that is constantly being shared between Father, Son and Spirit.
We are familiar with the idea that God’s love for us is shown in Jesus’ sacrifice of himself for us by becoming human and then dying for us on the cross. We are less familiar with the idea that we can be part of the constant exchange of love in God of which we have been speaking and which Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice of himself enables us to experience. If we live in God, we live in love and love lives in us. We become included in the constant exchange of love which exists in the Godhead and are, therefore, constantly loved no matter what else is going on in our lives.
The more we experience of God, the more we come to know that we are 100% loved by Him, surrounded by and filled by His love. This is the experience of the Psalmist in Psalm 139:
“Where could I go to escape from you?
Where could I get away from your presence?
If I went up to heaven, you would be there;
if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.
If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west,
You would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me.”
Do we know this for ourselves? Do we accept it for ourselves? Do we allow the reality that we are accepted and loved by God to seep into the depths of our being where it can and will resolve all of our insecurities and anxieties? Because our deepest need is to know with absolute confidence that we are loved and this is what is assured for us through the sacrifice of Jesus and the dance of love which is the Trinity.
Second, we see that love involves the continual giving and receiving of affirmation and authority. The dance of love is not a solo with the spotlight firmly fixed on an individual who garners all the glory for his or herself. The picture we have been exploring has been of the at-oneness of the male and female ballroom dancers which has then taken us into the mutual exchange of love between the Father, Son and Spirit.
What we see then is the importance for us of constantly seeking to share love with others. Jesus’ teaching is continually phrased in terms of giving and receiving: ‘I in you and you in me’; ‘give and it shall be given to you’; ‘love your neighbour as you love yourself’; ‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’. If we don’t give love away to others then we become a blockage in the constant exchange of love of which we are a part and this prevents us from receiving love at the same time that love ceases to be shared with others through us.
Is that our experience? Are there grudges or grievances that we hold against others? People or situations where we have not been willing to forgive? Over time such things build up to become major factors in our lives, our relationships and our emotions. Over time, they obscure our awareness of God’s constantly flowing love towards us. Confession is the medium through which such blockages are removed – again, as has been mentioned, ‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’.
These are just two of the practical outcomes for us of reflecting on the Dance of Love which is the Trinity. “The Dance of Love,” Stephen Verney writes, “is the glory in God’s heart, but it is also the pattern which is reflected in everything he has created.” The more we live according to his pattern for life, the more we will know in our lives the love and unity of both the ballroom partners and the Trinity itself.
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Paul Simon - So Beautiful Or So What.
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