The impulse to speak authoritatively about the nature of God is powerful. We have a strong need to “be in the know.”
But as we’ve said before, that mindset…

1. doesn’t take into account an ancient and venerated doctrine: the Ineffability of God. 
2. it’s not very helpful as we navigate the tumult we’re going through as a society; as Christians.

Western civilization is in the throes of another Renaissance; a New Enlightenment. We are up to our ears in new thought; new science and technology; new communication systems; new trade possibilities; neweconomic systems. It is a rebirth that rivals the one 500 years ago.

And like any birth… there are labor pains. As old ways give birth to new, it is difficult. As a new world is being born, there are labor pains; a lot of screaming… even some bloodshed.
We’re being reborn into a new reality; a new universe; a new human nature; new politics, economics, and social structures. We’re coming redefine who “we” are, who “they” are. Who is the outsider? The enemy?
And as happens every so often in our Judeo-Christian tradition, we’re updating our view of God. As we do, we’re using different words to talk about God; different images; different interpretations of our ancient texts.
And this freaks out the good folks who have been around a while.
In this series of posts, we’ll use one of the different ways of thinking about God: “Dirt.”  (Ya, that’ll freak good Christian people out!)
So, I thought I’d begin this series of posts with a quote from one of our venerated saints; Augustine. Early in our tradition, he wrote a treatise to help us get our heads around the idea of God being both three and one. He grappled with the idea for pages and pages. When he was finished, he concluded with these words…

We have said this not in order to say something…
but in order not to remain altogether silent.

One of our most brilliant and cherished saints offered an apology for the ages. We are trying to talk about something we can’t grasp. We struggle talking about God. By definition, God must always elude us; remain just outside our reach. We experience  the Divine; are captured by Divine love, life, goodness. We stand on a mountaintop or see an innocent child, and our hearts awaken to Something… Something.
And we must try to talk about our experience. If we didn’t, even the rocks would cry out; our hearts would explode within us. Though incomprehensible, God is the deepest drive within us. Our deepest drive is to experience the un-experiencable. What can we do but use our always-inadequate language?
So in these posts we’ll talk about “God as dirt…”

not in order to say something…
but in order not to remain altogether silent.