What are human beings for?

In the reality of the Triune life we learn that God is inherently disposed towards giving himself to another: ‘Father’ expresses himself in the whole through the eternally generated ‘Son’, at once creating a space in God which is held open by ‘Spirit’, and an utterly profound union that is bound together by ‘Spirit.’ The Trinity is God giving himself so completely to the other that the otherness is fully himself.

This mystery teaches us something profound about human life. While the divine processions of ‘Son’ and ‘Spirit’ must be radically differentiated from the creation of ‘Adam’, there is a sense in which they are not totally distinct. God is in his very self prone to create, to give and share life with others. The welcome to others that is rooted in the triune life spills over, freely, in the act of creation, and does so most fully in the creation of human beings. God was not forced to create in order to be fully himself, but it is precisely because he is fully himself – his triune self – that humans come to be.

What does this tell us about what we are for?

God made us to give himself to us. We exist because he wants to share. We are because God loves to love.

We are rain barrels to catch the flood; empty vases needing flowers; hungry stomachs craving bread of heaven; ears to hear the still small voice; incomplete puzzles awaiting a divine piece.

“Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Open up!