{"id":4265,"date":"2024-12-12T07:15:03","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T12:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4265"},"modified":"2024-12-12T07:15:43","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T12:15:43","slug":"of-the-fathers-love-begotten-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/12\/of-the-fathers-love-begotten-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Of the Father’s Love Begotten"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

The Horse and His Boy<\/em>, the fifth book in C.S. Lewis\u2019 children series called The Chronicles of Narnia<\/em>, tells the story of a boy named Shasta.

He doesn\u2019t know it, but he is the twin son of a Narnian prince. He was separated at birth from his brother by an evil counselor who cast him adrift in a boat. Miraculously, he was rescued and then raised by an impoverished fisherman.

Shasta ultimately has to run for his life, experiencing one close call after another. Strangely, he keeps encountering cats \u2013 both big ones and small ones.  

That\u2019s something he mentions when, lost and alone, he finds himself in the presence of Aslan \u2013 an enormous lion who represents the Christ figure in the Chronicles. Why have there been so many felines?

Aslan sets him straight:

\u201cI was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis [his invaluable traveling partner]. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.\u2018\u201d

\u201cWho are you?\u201d Shasta asks. The lion\u2019s response is extraordinary.

\u201c\u2019Myself,\u2019 said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again \u2018Myself,\u2019 loud and clear and gay: and then the third time \u201cMyself,\u201d whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all around you as if the leaves rustled with it.\u201d

Fans of Lewis\u2019 writings have little doubt what\u2019s happening here. Aslan is revealing himself as the tri-personal God \u2013 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Christian thinkers over the centuries have declared that God exists as a kind of society. 

At any given moment, God the Father (represented by Aslan\u2019s deep voice) is before us. God the Son (the clear and gay voice) is beside us. God the Spirit (Aslan\u2019s soft whisper) is within us. Before us, beside us, within us<\/em>. We pray to<\/u><\/strong> the Father, through<\/u><\/strong> the Son, by<\/u><\/strong> the Spirit \u2013 and in every regard find ourselves in the presence of God.

But isn\u2019t the whole notion of Trinity a blatant contradiction? How can God be both three and one? 

Theologians have been careful to point out that God is singular<\/em> in one category (essence \u2013 there is only one God) but plural<\/em> in another category (personhood \u2013 God is tri-personal by nature). Such a description is neither a contradiction nor a violation of the principles of logic. 

Nevertheless, it is certainly a paradox<\/em> (something that at first glance seems<\/em> to be contradictory) and a mystery<\/em> (a profound truth that we can\u2019t comprehend at present, because we don\u2019t have nearly enough information).

Father, Son, and Spirit are all featured in what is almost certainly the oldest Christmas carol still being actively sung in the 21st<\/sup> century. 

Of the Father\u2019s Love Begotten is like a time machine. It<\/em> transports us back to the time between the Classical period of antiquity and the early Middle Ages \u2013 almost 17 centuries ago, a mere 300 years after the time of Jesus.

Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (A.D. 348-413), one of Christianity\u2019s earliest poets, penned the original words in Latin. They were ultimately set to the tune Divinum Mysterium<\/em>, which hearkens from the 13th<\/sup> century.

Of the Father\u2019s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be<\/em>
He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He<\/em>
Of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see<\/em>
Evermore and evermore. <\/em>

O, that birth forever blessed, when the Virgin full of grace<\/em>
By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bore the Savior of our race<\/em>
And the Babe, the world\u2019s Redeemer, first revealed His sacred face<\/em>
Evermore and evermore. <\/em>

Christ to Thee with God the Father, and O Holy Ghost to Thee<\/em>
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be<\/em>
Honor, glory, and dominion, and eternal victory<\/em>
Evermore and evermore.<\/em>

Check out<\/a> Michael Lining\u2019s rendition of this ancient song. By recording his own unaccompanied voice four times, he captures the haunting beauty of medieval chant. 

It\u2019s impossible to plumb the depths of what it means that God the Son became a real human being at a real place at a real time in a real family \u2013 fully in concert with both Father and Spirit.

The most celebrated biblical description of this is found in John 1:14: 

\u201cThe Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.\u201d

The English words \u201cmade his dwelling\u201d are a translation of the single Greek word eskenosen<\/em>, which literally means \u201cpitched-tent.\u201d In the person of Jesus, God came into our encampment. He pitched his tent right next to ours. He sat around the same campfire, breathed the same air, and shared the same daily chatter about the weather, the flocks, and which family down the way just welcomed a new baby.

In other words, he became one of us.

And how long will Jesus hold on to this identity \u2013 this transformation into a living, breathing human being? 

Evermore and evermore<\/em>.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here The Horse and His Boy, the fifth book in C.S. Lewis\u2019 children series called The Chronicles of Narnia, tells the story of a boy named Shasta. He doesn\u2019t know it, but he is the twin son of a Narnian prince. He was separated at birth from his brother by an evil… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,492],"class_list":["post-4265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas-carols","tag-trinity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4265"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4268,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4265\/revisions\/4268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}