With Valentine’s Day around the corner we see red and pink hearts everywhere!
But are those symbols true images of love?
What does love look like anyway? Red velvet cupcakes? Red hearts? The Eiffel Tower?
Vintage linens or glassware?
You might think of a couple walking holding hands; a child looking up lovingly at a grandparent; brand new parents holding their infant tenderly. All those definitely conjure a comforting image for me, but what if you don’t have another half? Or your grandparents have passed away? Or you are a childless couple? My image suggestions would be painful and not full of love.
What images of love transcend the brokenness of our lives here?
You may be familiar with this Celtic symbol of the Trinity from ancient times. It is called the triquetra meaning a shape with three corners. Various histories claim the symbol so it is not primarily a Christian symbol in origin, but it has been associated with the Trinity since the Celtic revival in the 19th century.
I share all this by way of sharing something I have recently come to appreciate as an image of love. The unity of God in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is pictured in this symbol. No beginning, no end, flowing One into Another. You may know that Jesus the Son prayed in John 17
“that they also may be in Us”. When we are “in Christ” we are “in God”, in the Trinity.
I am a visual learner. At the center of this symbol is a space surrounded by the flow of the Three in One. That’s where we are invited to live. In the center of God. Surrounded, protected, empowered, loved.
I want to be right there in the center don’t you? Not center stage. Not even! But in the middle of the Love of God from the foundation of the world! Forgiven, Redeemed, Accepted, Loved.
That’s an image I can stand on.
How about you?
I love this image!! Thank you for sharing it in this light! I have come to appreciate that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have always existed; together, in fellowship, complete. They did not NEED us for anything. But They CHOSE to create us to be in relationship with Them. How much love is that? I'm with you…I want to live right in the center of God from the foundation of the world! You always make me think!