"Wherever you are, I Am"

 "Wherever you are, I Am."
This is the message I got this morning.
It's funny, a while ago I started reading many of the books I was warned against by my initial Christian faith tradition. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Gospel of Buddha, the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching, and many others. And instead of leading me away from Jesus Christ, they all led me straight back to Him, complimenting His teachings and making me see them in different ways. I started asking questions, started learning psychology and the workings of the brain in order to answer those questions, and it still led me straight back to Him. Not to the interpretations or theology about Him, but to Him. Now, I've been watching the series "Lucifer" of all things, where the actual devil is the main protagonist "anti-hero", and still, it leads me back to Him and His Father who is love who isn't willing that any should be destroyed but that all should come to redemption.
     In Evangelical Protestantism, really, you're taught to be afraid of a lot of things, depending on the church in question. You're taught to stay away from anything which might disagree. You're taught to not question. You're taught the devil is this huge monster waiting for you to put a toe out of line. Fear is what laces everything. Somehow God is omnipresent, but not in those dark spaces where they don't want you to look. God is everywhere, but apparently not in hell. God is infinite except for these boundaries here.
      God is everywhere, even in the darkness. The true darkness is only you shutting your eyes and plugging your ears to Him. He hasn't gone anywhere. God reveals Himself in everything if you've eyes to see and ears to hear. 
     The other day I got acquainted with a song I had only heard a couple of times before, and then only parts of it in passing, "One of Us," by Joan Osborne. It asks the question, "What if God was one of us?" As I learned, upon its release, many within evangelical protestantism condemned it as blasphemous. Many protested at her concerts.
     But isn't this question answered by the incarnation? You know, when God actually became one of us? When divinity was born as a human being who had to eat, sleep, and poop like the rest of us? Who sweated, got tired, got thirsty, had to deal with a plugged nose every once in a while, and so on?
     It was Mother St. Theresa of Calcutta who said that she saw the face of Christ in the poor and dying she served, and when she washed them, stayed with them as they were dying, and took care of them, she was doing so to Christ.
      What if God was one of us?
     It was Jesus Himself who said whoever feeds the hungry, gives water to the thirsty, visits the sick or the imprisoned, clothes the naked, welcomes the foreigner, that they do it to Him. Jesus was directly saying that how we treat others is how we treat Him. He was also asking the question, "What if God was one of us?" and answering it with, "Treat every human being as if it was Him."
     Sometimes I think the god that many churches want is Zeus, or Ba'al, or Marduk, or one of the pagan warrior gods who, if you propitiate them enough they'll fight for you and give you what you ask. But that's not the God and Father of our Owner Jesus Christ. The God who has already revealed Himself through His Son, and continues to reveal Himself within and through each one of us as He works to reconcile each and every one of us to Himself and will not stop or give up until He has accomplished His goal. He doesn't need to conquer. He already owns everything and only loans it to us for a few moments. He's already given us everything we could ever need. We're the ones who hoard it and keep it from each other. He's always present and willing to work with us and bring us into union with Himself. We're the ones who choose blindness to Him.
     "Wherever you are, I Am." That's the message He gives this morning. He'll meet us right where we're at, and will gently guide us with our cooperation like a guide to a stubborn blind man to where we need to go.

The Character of God in the Television Series "Lucifer"

      I finished binge watching season one of "Lucifer" yesterday. I've seen seasons five and six, but was hesitant to see the first one because I wasn't sure I wanted to see the main character when he was at his worst, before his growth and redemption arc. But I got it anyway, for a good price too, and decided to have a gander. What surprised me most was in discovering that this growth and redemption arc began from the word “go” in the pilot. But what continued to amaze me is to see how the character of God is actually portrayed in the series.
     Underneath the obvious surface blasphemy inherent to the series is actually a portrayal of a God, Lucifer's Father, who cares deeply for His son, and all of His children. It's a portrayal of a Father who had a plan for Lucifer's life for him to grow past his narcissism, self-absorption, and self-indulgence, but it required him coming to growth and conclusions on his own. In the series, much to Lucifer's misunderstanding, God sent him to govern hell for his own growth and to teach him compassion for the suffering of others. Instead, Lucifer believed it was his assignment to judge and torture the guilty. As a result, he became the mythological face of evil and blamed for all the human evils in the world, an image which hurt him tremendously and he felt was forced onto him unjustly. He believed his Father didn't love him, even though he yearned for it and never stopped loving Him though he hid it even from himself. He rebelled and lost and was locked out of Heaven. But God's plan took this into account as well.
     In the series, Lucifer decides he's had enough of hell and enters Earth with no intentions of returning. He has his servant Mazikeen cut off his angel wings to ensure it. He sets himself up as a wealthy nightclub owner in L.A. and attempts to “reinvent” himself. Then, five years later, he meets Detective Chloe Decker, L.A.P.D., who is totally immune to his supernatural charms, something which has never happened to him before. What neither of them know at the time is that Chloe was born specifically as a "gift" to him: the one woman immune to his charms and so she was free to choose him or not for who he himself was. He also meets and begins seeing a psychologist, Dr. Linda Martin, who at first believes he's completely delusional but goes with it anyway. Dr. Martin begin getting Lucifer to see things in a different way and begins making breakthroughs with him almost in spite of his total cluelessness about his own psychology, and between his therapist and his budding relationship with Chloe, her daughter, and her group of friends and coworkers at the L.A.P.D., he begins to change and grow.
     And all the while throughout the series, his Father keeps gently reminding him that He's there, He's got a plan for him, and He works with Lucifer where he's at. He doesn't really push, He waits. When Lucifer does call out to Him, not for himself even when he's dying but to save Chloe's life, His Father responds by healing him, sending him back to rescue Chloe, and giving him a task he's suited for. When Lucifer's Father shows up bodily in season four, He's kind, non-judgmental, and always has a look of deep concern and compassion for everyone. He's also presented as fair, and knowing everything that's going on even when another brother of Lucifer's tries to twist the truth. He intentionally makes Himself human and mortal, ostensibly to be a part of Lucifer's world for a while, and when He puts Himself in real physical danger, Lucifer becomes protective of Him stating "no one hurts my dad!" perhaps surprising even himself as he realizes that he still loves and cares for Him.  Again, part of his Father's plan to heal and redeem His fallen son. By the end of the series, Lucifer finally understands His Father's intention all along. It was never about punishing him, but entrusting him with the care and treatment of fallen souls so that they too could be ultimately redeemed and sent on to "the silver city," because He didn't want anyone to remain in hell forever. For as much of a "bad father" picture that the character Lucifer complains about, the show itself reveals God to be the "hound of heaven" who refused to give up on His hurt, angry, rebellious, fallen son.
     And Lucifer is not the only one whom his Father’s plan affects. Amenadiel, Lucifer’s brother is sent ostensibly to recover him and return him to hell. When we first meet him, he’s harsh, judgmental, and without compassion. He just want’s to get the job done and return home by any means necessary and he becomes one of season one’s “villains”, lying, deceiving, and even trying to get Lucifer killed once he discovers his growing mortality so that he can return him to hell that way. But then he learns the human cost of his actions. The deaths of innocents which he cannot justify. He understands the wrong he has committed even while trying to do the “right” thing. He then really starts trying to understand humanity and take part in it, and in so doing, he learns to care and have compassion. And you can see his Father’s hand here as he begins to truly reflect God’s love and become like his Father by the end of the series, and eventually, reluctantly inherits the throne of heaven after He retires (no, not theologically accurate by any means).
     There is also Mazikeen, Lucifer’s demon servant. She begins the series focused on nothing but sex, violence, serving her boss, and wanting to return home. But as the series progresses, she too is made to really confront her past and her traumas, and she begins to actually make friends, to grow beyond what anyone expected of her. In season four, she asks Lucifer’s Father for a soul. He responds that “you’re perfect just the way you are.” Angry and believing He denied her, she storms out. But then in a later conversation, it’s revealed that He couldn’t give her what she had already grown herself. Again, His plan throughout the show included more than just redeeming Lucifer.
     If we were to go through all of the characters in this series, we can see Lucifer’s Father’s hand touching all of them directly and indirectly, gently guiding them to self reflection, growth, and ultimately their redemption. Even with the main villains of seasons five and six who do end up in hell. Once Lucifer returns, he returns as its chief therapist working to help them and all the souls trapped there to work through their guilt and pain so that they can be freed to move on to heaven.
So really, this is a show about God working behind the scenes gently to bring about the best possible outcomes for everyone while working within their free will and not against it. He’s infinitely patient with all of them. Never responds harshly to anyone. Never actually turns anyone away. Puts up with continuous accusations and verbal abuse from everyone, and in the end, ensures that all of them reach their full healing and completion just the way He planned.
     Regardless of the polytheistic theology, isn’t that the essence of who God actually is? Love?

Homosexuals Will Enter The Kingdom of Heaven Before the Self-Righteous Christian

 Homosexuals, prostitutes, "non-Christians," "tax collectors," the poor, and the homeless will all enter the kingdom of heaven long before the self-righteous religious person will. Scripture is clear about this that it is the "sinner" who turns around who goes home made right, not the self-righteous religious person resting on his or her laurels.
     Who goes to Gehenna? Jesus was absolutely clear on this subject. Those who see those in need and refuse to help. Those who refuse to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner and the sick. He was clear that everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and according to John, no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. Every human being alive is a descendant of the same man and woman whether you look at either Scripture or genetics. Every human being alive is from the same tribe, the same clan, the same family. We are all brothers and sisters. If you hate another human being, you do not have eternal life within you. Scripture is clear on this subject.
     If you do not love, you do not know God because God is love. Scripture is also clear on this subject. If you do not have love, you are nothing and have nothing, and like Jesus said, if you do not have, what little you think you have will be taken from you.
     You claim the blood of Christ? You claim to believe in Jesus? The devil believes in Jesus and Gehenna was made for his kind. Your faith without love will not save you because faith without love is a faith without God and God alone saves. Don't tell me how much you love Jesus, how much you believe in Jesus if you continue to hate your brother, your fellow human being. The outer darkness awaits you, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
     If you refuse to follow His even His simplest teachings to love your neighbor as yourself and treat others as you want to be treated, you trample the blood of Jesus Christ underfoot. God does not take kindly to this. He takes an even dimmer view when you teach others to do the same. You build up wrath for yourself with your utter blasphemy.
     Turn around. Set aside your hate. Embrace love, mercy, compassion. Don't judge and you won't be judged. But if you persist, you will taste suffering in eternity until you come to your senses and embrace Love Himself.
      The gay person marching in a pride parade will enter the kingdom of heaven before the "Christian" who condemns them. The prostitute will feast with Abraham before the Christian nationalists. The immigrant will enter the wedding feast fully clothed before the Republican that seeks their harm. Unstop your ears and listen! If you continue on this path you do so to your own destruction.

How to Actually Defeat Trump and MAGA

 I want to talk about the latest "assassination attempt" on Trump, but first we need to talk about Nero.
     Nero reigned for fourteen years as emperor. When the great fire which burned close to half of Rome broke out, he needed a scapegoat. He somewhat arbitrarily chose Christians as they tended to be headquartered in the Trans Tiberum district and that district was known for gangs of arsonists. Of course there was no proof. What followed was years of being hunted brutally, using them for sport in the arenas and Coliseum, even covering them with pitch and using them as torches for his gardens. Nero was deranged. He murdered his wife and then made a eunuch out of a slave and dressed him up as his dead wife. He is literally considered to be the archetype of the Beast found in the Book of Revelation. He became so unhinged that his own Praetorian guard finally put an end to him because they perceived he was an imminent threat to the empire itself. 
     But in all of this, you will never read once of Christians attempting to end him themselves. There were no Christian resistance movements. There were no presbyters or bishops arming themselves and preaching open defiance (with the one exception that they would not make sacrifices to either the Roman gods or Caesar himself). 
     What you do find in ancient Christian writings are a willingness to be thrown to the lions. A willingness to go to the cross, be beheaded, be boiled in oil, and a refusal to do or say anything contrary to what Jesus taught. They literally sang hymns while they burned to death. Jesus taught to love your enemies, they practiced it. They eventually transformed the Roman empire, not by force of arms, but by loving their enemies, practicing what Jesus preached, and forgiving those who were hurting them. As a result, they multiplied until the emperor in the fourth century saw it necessary to legalize them and his son, to enshrine their religion into Roman law. What you find in the writings of the first two centuries are people willing to not only pray for those abusing and hunting them down, but also performing miracles of healing for them when they fell sick.
     I've made no secret of my belief that Trump is Nero reborn, or that he very much resembles an antichrist and is in the process of checking off those boxes. But the Christian response to him is not to attempt to end him, but to do the exact same things our spiritual ancestors did. Do what Jesus taught. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who hunt you. If you must be arrested and go to your death, rejoice, and do it with a song on your lips because you are in good company and they will be waiting to welcome you home.
     Recently, I've been watching a number of videos on YouTube about German, Nazi, POWs and how they were treated in the POW camps in Canada and the US. They had been told by their government that the Americans and Canadians would torture and kill them. They had been told that the US and Canada were on the verge of collapse with bombed out cities and a starving population, just like in Germany at the time. They came came expecting the worst. Instead, the US just followed the Geneva convention and treated those POWs like their own soldiers. Gave them the same food, clothing, housing, and paid them for their labor. They got a day off on Sundays, and evenings for recreation time. The POWs had been so brainwashed that they honestly thought the Americans were trying to trick them, fatten them up for slaughter. Over months and even years of just being treated with basic human decency and kindness, eventually most began to understand that their government had lied to them. They began to understand that  they weren't going to be killed or even mistreated. Many struck up friendships with the Americans they worked with. After the war, many of those Americans sponsered their immigration back to the US after repatriation where the former POWs became residents and then citizens. These formerly Nazi soldiers weren't "brainwashed" by the camps, they were just treated kindly and with compassion according to the rules set down by the Geneva Convention. They were just shown the truth about America's abundance, natural wonders, culture, and governmental structures. When they returned home to a devastated Germany that had no idea what the truth actually was, they realized they no longer wanted to be there or be a part of it. 
     They had come prepared for torture  and use of force. It would have reinforced everything they were told to think. But they had no defense against compassion and the truth. This is how you truly defeat an enemy. You love them, treat them with kindness and compassion, and show them the truth. It may take time and won't happen overnight, but it can and will happen.
     Trump and MAGA will eventually resolve themselves. They may cause more death and destruction in the process like the Nazis did, but they will eventually resolve themselves one way or the other. They're prepared for an opposition that uses force. They expect it. They even welcome it because it proves them right. They really have no defense against actually practicing what Jesus taught. They have no defense against the truth except to cover it up with more lies. It doesn't fit their narrative.

Lessons From the John Wick Series

      I recently watched all four John Wick movies. I got them mostly for John, Cindy's husband, to watch in his convalescence. He tends to like the hard action films, so these were right up his alley. I'll be honest, the action sequences got a little repetitive after a while, and you already knew John Wick was going to win every time. His plot armor was far more bulletproof than his suits were, and that's saying something. This being said, in a way they're full of subtle nostalgic callbacks to the Matrix, Highlander, Assassin's Creed, Rambo, and a few other action films and franchises and they end up being a kind of comfort food even if you haven't seen them before. The first film is kind of a self-contained story which can stand on its own. The next three are really a six and a half hour sequel movie broken into three parts. 
     There are a few things I can say about John Wick and the storylines which stuck out to me as teachable moments. The first is that John is the one who brings almost all of his suffering on himself after his wife dies. It is true that he was attacked, his car was stolen, and the puppy his wife gave him to help him grieve was murdered in front of him. I'm not saying that was his doing. But it was his response to these things which set everything in motion to completely destroy what he had left of the "normal" life he had built with his wife, Helen. It was his choice to get revenge and rampage through the Russian mafia which put him on back on the radar of the man who held his marker. It was his choice to kill that man on Continental grounds that got him "excommunicado" with the High Table, and all those who helped him after that punished severely. It was his choice to kill the High Table Elder which upped the bounty on him and caused them to destroy the New York Continental, excommunicate Winston, and systematically hunt down anyone who could be helping or harboring him which led to the death of his friend who managed the Continental in Osaka. Ultimately, it was John Wick's choices which led to his own death, and the deaths of many if not most of his friends. None of it would have happened if he had just walked away to begin with, let them have the car, buried his puppy, and moved on. Don't get me wrong, I get why he did what he did, but all actions have consequences not only for ourselves, but all those around us. In the end, he lost everything he was fighting to keep, including his life, leaving a trail of bodies that numbered in the hundreds, not to mention the lives shattered of people whom he had counted as friends and even family.
     The second thing I want to point out here is that his solution, as an assassin, was to kill the people he held responsible for causing his suffering. He broke the High Table's rules, the High Table sent people to enforce the penalty for breaking them. He killed the people they sent. They sent more, always more. He killed High Table leadership. They appointed new leadership. His problem, as Winston pointed out to him, was that he couldn't kill all of them. The High Table organization was composed of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. It was like the Hydra. You kill one head, two more grow back, and they just keep coming. Ultimately, Winston's wisdom was that John had to work within the High Table's rules to truly find a way to end it, and he was right. When John told him that he would kill anyone sent after him, Winston replied, "I know you will." He had no doubts about the matter. What John wasn't counting on that Winston understood is that they would never stop sending people, and John simply couldn't kill them all. They would eventually overwhelm him, and very nearly did several times if not for timely interventions. John's ending was more him trying to make restitution to Winston and Caine and save them as he finally understood that the only way by that point was in fact his death. On his terms, yes, but his death nonetheless. In the end, the rules were satisfied, the High Table was satisfied, and everyone involved was left to pick up the pieces and rebuild what lives they had left.
     A third thing from John Wick is this: He who lives by the sword dies by it. It's not divine retribution, it's just reality. Jesus said this to Peter in the garden at his arrest, but the Buddha also said something like it to a general who came wanting to be taught the Dharma. He told the general, “He who goeth to battle, O Simha, even though it be in a righteous cause, must be prepared to be slain by his enemies, for that is the destiny of warriors; and should his fate overtake him he has no reason for complaint. But he who is victorious should remember the instability of earthly things. His success may be great, but be it ever so great the wheel of fortune may turn again and bring him down into the dust.” (The Gospel of Buddha. Paul Carus)
     All John had to do was walk away and leave Baba Yaga in the past. Leave his equipment in the concrete. It wouldn't have made for a good action movie with a sympathetic anti-hero, but it would have prevented all of the death and destruction which followed.

Autism, ADHD, and Why Jesus Died and Resurrected

 Is someone with autism responsible for their autistic behaviors? Think about the answer hard. His or her behaviors are being informed by the way their neurodivergent brain is wired, and yet the choice to commit to those behaviors still belongs to them. Even with autism, they still have agency. Those behaviors make every sense in the world for them to do at that moment even though they may be completely inappropriate or in some cases violent. Their brains are telling them, "yes, this is the right course of action for you to take," maybe even screaming it at them even if they know intellectually that's not the case. The same is true of people with ADHD. In order to perform "normally" with relatively "normal" behaviors, it can take an extreme amount of effort, and even then they're really just role playing for all intents and purposes. It's exhausting, draining, and the end result is never quite "right".

     Now understand that this is also what's going on with "hamartia," traditionally translated as "sin." The difference here is that "every" human being has this disorder. We don't even recognize it for what it is because we've only ever had one "normal" human being born in the last couple of millennia. The human brain, and specifically the amygdala, is functioning on a set of physical parameters that it wasn't originally supposed to be. It's overreactive in comparison with all other animals. And this is also what happens when you try to apply "normal" social expectations to it, such as with rules or moral "law." It becomes role playing and "masking". It can take an extreme amount of effort to not give in to what your own brain is screaming at you to do. It's exhausting and draining trying to just perform "normally." The choice to commit to those hamartia behaviors still belongs to the person in question, but understand that it is that person's own brain which is influencing them and pushing them to do so.

     As long as it is the brain which is the source of responses and behaviors, this will be the case. This is what the Gospel is really about; changing the source of responses and behaviors and bypassing the dysfunctional hardware of the human brain. Because the truth is that we are not just animal, we are also logos. We are not just flesh, we are also spirit, and originally, the brain was meant to be a transceiver of sorts for that logos or spirit, what is now frequently called "consciousness." 

     The altered parameters of the human amygdala put us constantly under the control of our survival responses, and the fear response in particular so that we treat everything, every memory, every like or dislike, every imagining, every encounter as either a survival threat or a survival necessity. This constant state blocks or obstructs the original, natural control and responses of the spirit or logos. This is why Jesus Christ came, and why He died and resurrected, because what has died has been made right from hamartia.

      Jesus Christ died and resurrected or "resuscitated" because this is literally the only thing which can for certain neutralize our problem. The after-effects of those who have near death experiences, those who have literally died or been brain dead for a short period and then returned to life, are fairly well documented and they are all marked by a sudden increase of love, empathy, and compassion for all other people, sometimes supernatural abilities, and the genuine and mostly permanent loss of being controlled by their fear. So how do you make this available to every human being without them actually having to die?

     This is why the Logos, the Head of every other logos human beings carry and to whom every human being is connected, incarnated as a human being, and why He chose to die and resurrect, because, in so doing, His death and resurrection experience becomes our death and resurrection experience, and the aftereffects upon the human brain become ours as well if we are aware that we are capable of choosing them and do so.

     Jesus Christ died and resurrected to give us a real solution to our human dysfunction, our inherited disorder without destroying our free will to choose. He died and resurrected in order to give us the real choice to behave "normally" as human beings were intended to with the spirit or logos behaving and responding and not a dysfunctional organ within the brain.

     He died and resurrected to restore us and change us to what we were intended to be, incarnations of the Logos just like Him.

The Problem with the Orthodox Doctrine of the Trinity as It is Taught

 Thoughts lately and today. The main problem with the Orthodox doctrine of the Trinity is that it tries to set boundaries on that which has no boundaries. It tries to limit the limitless, and make finite the infinite.

    The Orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, like its deviations and heresies, was the result of human beings trying to understand how Jesus Christ could also be God in addition to His Father being God, and then also the Holy Spirit being God, and yet there only existing one God. The heresies and deviations denied either that there was only one God, or they denied that Jesus Christ Himself was God. 

     But all of this presumes that there is a demarcation point where God ends and "other" begins. It presumes that it is possible for there to be a place in space and time where God is not. It presumes that God exist within the boundaries of space and time instead of these moving through His infinity. This requires that God not be omnipresent or infinite. It makes sense when looking at God through the eyes of ancient man more familiar with gods made in man's image, but not when taking into account the God described by the Bible. The Being who only describes Himself as "I Am."

     Where the Logos is concerned, this is a concept older than the New Testament and it is certain that John is making use of that concept with which everyone was familiar at the time. Paul too describes the Christ with the same language with which the Stoics describe the Logos. It is clear in Stoic writings that the Logos originates with the God, firstborn of all creation, and through which the creation was made. It is clear that the Logos is made of God, but is distinct from the Father God. What is also clear from these writings is that every human being holds a piece or shred of that Logos. Every human being can be said to be incarnate Logos. Jesus Christ was unique in that He was born without our inherited error and without its influence. He was unique in that He is the Head and we are parts of the body of the Logos. But he was not the only born, but the firstborn among many siblings. 

     And so in the Scriptures we see the Father God, the Logos, and the Spirit and yet only a single infinite God. We see a single incarnate Logos and yet many incarnations of the parts of the Logos. And so we see not just a Trinity, but a Logos that is also unity in diversity among all human beings.

     But we are not just Logos, but incarnate Logos, Logos with flesh, Divine Logos and animal, and the animal part of the human being is malfunctioning. The system of our animal brain which deals with survival threats and necessities is working with physical parameters it was not designed to work with. It is over reactive and colors every action, word, and thought we have. It has us fearful or angry at things which haven’t even happened, or things which have long since passed and no longer threaten us. It has us hoarding things it believes to be necessities which aren’t, and refusing or attempting to destroy things it believes to be threats that may or may not be. Jesus Christ alone was born without this error within His animal flesh. It is this error which keeps us responding as though everything was a threat or necessity and as such keeps us from responding from the logos that we truly are, keeps us from experiencing the natural union of substance with Love Himself.

     It is this error that Jesus Christ taught us to recognize and bypass through His words, His life, His death, and His resurrection because what has died is made right from this malfunction. Detachment from the error, a weakening of the error’s hold over us is a natural outcome of death and resuscitation, and by including all of us in His death and resurrection or resuscitation, He made His experience our reality, and gave us the tools to submit to and cooperate with the part of the Divine Logos which we all hold if we choose it. He gave us the tools to experience our oneness with the substance of God as body-parts of this second person of the “Trinity,” the Logos, which is our birthright as much as it is His, as He is the firstborn among many siblings.

     And so the Orthodox doctrine of the Trinity is incomplete as it is because it does not include the entirety of the incarnate Logos, that is, the rest of humanity each of which contains a shred, piece, or part and is a part or member, fully in communication or not, of the body of the Logos who is Jesus Christ.