incarnation
What is the Incarnation? It is the understanding that over two
thousand years ago, in Christ, there was a person who had both
a fully human nature and had another nature that was fully divine.
And what exactly does that mean? It is a mystery, but it tells
us that
at a specific place and a specific point in historical time,
the self-awareness of the mysterious cause of existence popped
up in a human being. That human being then proceeded to explain
that he was indeed the Son of God (i.e.,
the self-awareness,
or self-knowledge of God), explain
how we too could get to God, and explain that the inherently
happy love between God and God's self-awareness was accessible
to us
all.
Does it make any sense to say this? To say that in the person
of Jesus Christ a human joined with the self-awareness
of the mysterious cause of existence?
It's not the most logical thing I've ever
heard,
but
then life isn't particularly logical. We have no idea why we
even exist
in the first place, just that we exist, and we know
we are conscious but don't really undestand how that works either.
The best way to understand the mystery of the Incarnation is
to see it in the context of
the ultimate mystery of life and explore it for its meaning,
because
it does say something very specific about humans and the divine.
It says that whatever caused existence appeared as
a
part of the fabric of existence at a specific time and
place and then proceeded to identify what humans can and should
be, by being that way himself. The point that Aquinas often made,
that talking of God usually tells us more
about us than about God, is particularly true of the Incarnation. The Incarnation
gives
us
a model of what we are to become, forever changing what it means to be human.
uniting humanity and divinity
If you believe the idea that at least one human can be both
fully human and fully divine (and divinely happy), then the
possibilities of being human are infinitely increased. This is
the beauty of the Incarnation. It says that as of a specific
point
in time, the essential fabric of what it means to be human changed
irrevocably for the better with the incorporation of the mystery
of divinity into humanity.
Remember back in Part One when we compared us and God?
God
|
Us
|
free of space-time
|
locked in space-time
|
perfectly actualized
|
struggling to flourish
|
perfectly present
|
marginally in the moment
|
fully aware
|
usually clueless
|
thinks reality
|
usually blocks it
|
powers providence
|
struggles to survive
|
in love; divinely happy
|
often lonely
|
The Incarnation says we're not stuck in the "Us" column;
it says we have a shot at overcoming the trappings of consciousness
and ego (acquired when we got tossed out of the proverbial Garden)
and have a chance to taste some of that divine happiness. And
how might this splendid state be reached? By grace, the action
and gift by which we decode our inherent divinity.
|
"He brought us the surest faith by speaking to us himself
... he immensely lifted our hopes ... he has set an example of
living life well ... and he has brought us to the true and happy
goal of life, a full share in his own godhead."
(3a, 1,2)
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