The Incarnation: God's Story about God
An effusion of the Ineffable!
Prepare for God Incarnate this Advent season! Below is the final of three blog posts on the Incarnation. Read the first and second installment by clicking the links below!
The Incarnation: O Come, Divine Messiah!
God's Story about God
Do you know the feeling of wanting to say something, but having difficultly finding an appropriate word? I think you probably do.
And there is another similar feeling, when you understand something pretty well - say Thales' or Pythagoras' theorem. You know how to apply equations but cannot explain them to someone else. You simply do not know how to convey your knowledge. It is so frustrating!
And there's one more trouble, well-known to lovers. They have a burning desire to express their love to each other, their deep mutual acceptance, their joy in each other's every affect - in the very existence of the beloved. But the simple "I love you" seems to be extremely trivial compared to the profound satisfaction of the relationship. It is almost impossible to voice all these beautiful emotions and thoughts.
In these days of Advent we are looking at God, who finds Himself in such a situation. He tried to communicate with us, but all the words He said turned out to be insufficient. God wanted to express Himself, His great love and acceptance of you and me. He desired to tell a story encompassing His beauty and happiness and the wonderful invitation to community with Him. However, creation, prophets, covenants, commandments, and all previous methods appeared to be inadequate - almost trivial.
Every Christmas reminds us of the wonderful mystery of the Incarnation. The history of miscommunication has ended. God comes up with the idea of how to express Himself ultimately and perfectly. The Word of Himself in His mind - which was looking forward to getting outside - has been said. His great love and wisdom, His strength and beauty, became a human. What an astonishing idea of God! When God expresses himself completely, He becomes a human! The most intimate language He speaks is the language which is His Son - Jesus. However, that's not all. We can contemplate this particular moment when God shows how He understands and communicates Himself. This message has the form of a little, pink, crying baby who cannot say any word or understand anything. It is Jesus now who needs to learn our language and our ways of understanding.
Sometimes when we focus on ourselves too much, we consider ourselves incapable of responding to God. How should we talk to Him? What do we need to say? Which prayer is most suitable? However, in this way, we miss a tremendous message of the Incarnation, which is the infant's form. Look at the baby. God reveals His power and wisdom in this shape. Should we be afraid and confused talking to a baby? No way. He comes to us in this innocent and vulnerable way, so we do not need to chase after a fancy method, but simply come to Him as we approach a little human being - and tenderly hug Him.
Christmas time is a time of meetings, so you will probably have the opportunity to hold a baby in your arms. Maybe you have one of your own, or maybe your siblings or friends have one. At that moment, let yourself feel this little, soft person, full of love and warmth, inviting you to display your goodness.
I encourage you to contemplate this flash of God's delicate and silent revelation. His simple presence among us has become one of the greatest secrets of our faith. This is the most divine language God speaks.
Br. Piotr Tasak, O.P. | Member of the the Province of Poland | Meet the Brothers in Formation HERE
