A 3-Dimensional God

When people are asked about the shape of their faith, most will respond in one of several ways:

• My relationship with God is mostly vertical -- it's between me and Him and it's no one else's business what I believe.  I pray; I go to church; it's all good. 
• My faith is mostly horizontal -- I don't pray much, but all God really expects is for us to live a loving life: kind, compassionate, considerate.
• My faith is mostly internal -- God helps me heal the wounds of my past, cope with the present, deal with pain, and accept myself.

Of course, anyone at all can figure out that while we always have to begin somewhere, we always have to 'go' somewhere also in our faith.  God is not 'one-dimensional,' but three-dimensional.  Jesus made this abundantly clear in the two greatest commandments: " Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole mind, and your whole strength," and the second is like the first: " Love your neighbor as yourself."  If we are unable to love ourselves--i.e., heal our wounds, cope with our lives, deal with pain, etc. it is most unlikely that we will be able to love our neighbor. 

If we learn to love God in a vertical relationship -- prayer, praise, thanksgiving, worship, attentiveness to the Holy Spirit guiding us, etc. -- then He will most certainly direct us toward love of neighbor.  Our love for one another is the direct overflow of God's love in us, "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit."  Jesus was pretty clear about this in his parables of the unjust steward who had been forgiven his debt to the Master but who refused to forgive a fellow servant his debt.

If we begin on the horizontal level by reaching out to serve the needs of others as best we can, the love of God remains in us, strengthening and supporting our own internal healing.  We cope with our own lives even better if we assist others with their lives -- up to a point, that is.  I cannot forget the bitterness of a friend whose mother spent her life serving others outside the family but who neglected her own children at home.  She had a reputation for kindness and compassion in the community, but her own family suffered.   I have to wonder if this kindness was truly directed by the Spirit of God or by some other motives, although it is not for us to judge such things.

My point here is that our relationship with God, if it is true, will always be not 'one - dimensional,' but 3-dimensional if it is true.  We all begin in different places, but should end up in the same place.  The love of God leads us from glory to glory, because ultimately, it is the Spirit of Jesus who lives in us and directs all our actions.  And looking at Jesus, we clearly see His 3-dimensional relationship with the Father.  He often rose early and went off by Himself to pray; everything He said and did was from the Father and to the Father.  He was sustained and fed by the Spirit of His Father --- and the overflow of His life was abundant healing, salvation, mercy, truth, and justice for all those around Him and for the world itself.

A dynamic Christian life is never one-dimensional, although because of temperament and nature, we lean more in one direction than in another.  One of the Medjugore visionaries said, "I can say 15 rosaries, but don't ask me to meditate."  Another one said, "I can meditate all day, but I cannot say the rosary."  And St. Augustine said, "Pray as you can, not as you can't."  That's such good advice!

I don't think we can compare our own spirituality to that of another, nor can we judge another's approach to God.  God Himself is the Author of our faith, and He is able to bring to completion the work He has begun in us.  We need to trust Him to do everything in us that we are unable to do for ourselves.  The Author of the perfect rose is also the author and finisher of our souls.