Take a moment, if you will, and think about what image comes to mind when you hear about the Trinity. When you think of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, what does the Trinity look like – what picture, what symbol represents the Trinity for you. … Of course, it’s impossible for us as human beings to completely understand who God is, and any picture or image that we use is just an analogy, a symbol, a visual way to help us understand one particular aspect of God. St. Patrick used the shamrock to help the people of Ireland understand what is meant by the Trinity, but that’s not a perfect symbol. In art, God the Father is most often portrayed as an elderly man with a long, white beard; God the Son is often depicted as a 30-something man of European descent; and the Holy Spirit is shown as a dove. But in Native American Christian art, God the Father is pictured as a wizened tribal chief, God the Son as a young warrior, and the Holy Spirit as a bald eagle. None of these pictures are accurate, they’re simply human analogies. And then there’s the latest image of the Trinity, one that many people have become familiar with over the past couple years: in this newest image of the Trinity, God the Father is represented as a large, African-American woman named both “Eloisa” and “Papa;” God the Son is an ordinary-looking man of Middle-Eastern descent, a carpenter; and God the Holy Spirit is an Asian woman named “Sarayu” who is a gardener but who moves so quickly that she is often just a blur. This representation of the Trinity is the one portrayed in the novel The Shack, a story of a man whose weekend visit with God helps him understand how to make sense of a tragedy that has changed his life.
Although it is a novel, a story of fiction, The Shack contains a lot of theology – some of it very good theology, some of it more questionable. One aspect of theology that The Shack can help us understand the best is the Trinity. If nothing else, it certainly stretches our minds. Except for Jesus as a human being, the second person of the Trinity, God does not have gender, God does not age, God is not like us. To think of God the Father as an African-American woman is no more accurate or inaccurate than to think of God the Father as an old man with a white beard – God is in all people, but is not like anyone. The Holy Spirit is the same way – the Spirit is not just a dove that flies around the world, it is fire and water and wind – constant movement, always tending for the Church, much like a gardener tends to plants in order to help them grow. It’s not so much in how we picture God, but in who God is, the characteristics that our pictures try to show. God the Father sitting on throne in heaven is a ruler, someone with authority – and that is part of who God is, but not everything. God the Father in The Shack is a person of great compassion, a great cook who makes sure that everyone is fed – physically and spiritually. Jesus pictured on the cross is the one who loves us so much that he will give his life for us. But we also can’t forget the Jesus of The Shack, the carpenter who looks just like us, who is like a brother, but who is a better human being than we will ever be because he is the perfection of everything that is human. No one image is perfect, no one image is complete, because our feeble minds will never be able to grasp the complete wonder of who God is. We try – we get bits and pieces – and those pieces all put together are a beginning, a beginning of a life-long quest to understand who God is.
Think back to the first image that came to your mind when you thought about the Trinity. Remember that image – there’s probably something good and valuable in it – but don’t stop there. Keep thinking, keep reading, and keep looking around you. It takes a world and a lifetime of images to help us understand God, and even that is just a drop in the bucket.
Although it is a novel, a story of fiction, The Shack contains a lot of theology – some of it very good theology, some of it more questionable. One aspect of theology that The Shack can help us understand the best is the Trinity. If nothing else, it certainly stretches our minds. Except for Jesus as a human being, the second person of the Trinity, God does not have gender, God does not age, God is not like us. To think of God the Father as an African-American woman is no more accurate or inaccurate than to think of God the Father as an old man with a white beard – God is in all people, but is not like anyone. The Holy Spirit is the same way – the Spirit is not just a dove that flies around the world, it is fire and water and wind – constant movement, always tending for the Church, much like a gardener tends to plants in order to help them grow. It’s not so much in how we picture God, but in who God is, the characteristics that our pictures try to show. God the Father sitting on throne in heaven is a ruler, someone with authority – and that is part of who God is, but not everything. God the Father in The Shack is a person of great compassion, a great cook who makes sure that everyone is fed – physically and spiritually. Jesus pictured on the cross is the one who loves us so much that he will give his life for us. But we also can’t forget the Jesus of The Shack, the carpenter who looks just like us, who is like a brother, but who is a better human being than we will ever be because he is the perfection of everything that is human. No one image is perfect, no one image is complete, because our feeble minds will never be able to grasp the complete wonder of who God is. We try – we get bits and pieces – and those pieces all put together are a beginning, a beginning of a life-long quest to understand who God is.
Think back to the first image that came to your mind when you thought about the Trinity. Remember that image – there’s probably something good and valuable in it – but don’t stop there. Keep thinking, keep reading, and keep looking around you. It takes a world and a lifetime of images to help us understand God, and even that is just a drop in the bucket.
Native American Trinity
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