Father, Son and Golden Ratio

The illustration above may seem to be geometry, but it contains one of many names for God: ABBA, Father.

Today's readings for the second Sunday of Lent are all about fathers and sons.  One might say that the "right" relationship between father and son is a Golden ratio: As the Whole Line is to the Larger Portion (the Father), so must the Larger Portion be to the Smaller Portion (the Son).  

That is, as God relates to a father, so a father must relate to his Son. Conversely, as a son trusts and places faith in his father, so must his father trust and place faith in God.


First Reading

We see this Golden ratio at work in our first reading, the strange story of God, Abraham, and Isaac.  God (who is certainly the greater of the three) tells Abraham (a father) to sacrifice his beloved son (the smallest of the three). 

Abraham is about to comply by cutting Isaac's throat when God stays his hand and informs Abraham that because he has chosen to follow God's divine order with the unquestioning faith of a good son, Abraham's own son will be spared. Though small, Isaac's offspring will become a great people more numberless than the stars of the sky or the grains of sand on the shores of the sea.

Second Reading

We also see the Golden Ratio at work in our second reading, a letter from St. Paul to the Romans.  St. Paul specifically underscores the parallels between Abraham's offer to sacrifice Isaac and God's sacrifice of His only begotten son, Jesus Christ.  

As God proved his love for the sons of Abraham through Abraham, so does God prove his love for all people through his son, Christ Jesus.  St. Paul is pointing out that the covenant and bond of love between God and the children of Abraham and Isaac has been even more powerfully reaffirmed and magnified by God through the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross.

Through Christ, God has adopted every child who believes in Him.

"If God is with us, who can oppose us?" he asks.

 The Divine Ratio and The Holy Trinity

Those who have never heard of the Golden Ratio or Divine Proportion are encouraged to see the explanation and illustrations on this page:  http://goldennumber.net/goldsect.htm

Put simply, the Divine Ratio is the only symmetric division of a line  that preserves the identity of the whole in its larger and smaller parts. A Golden ratio brings the whole, the larger part, and the smaller part into a perfect three-part analogy. The whole is reflected in the Father, and the image of the Father is perfectly reflected in the Son.

It's a formula for immortalization: God's spirit is embodied in Abraham, Abraham is embodied in Isaac, and Isaac's descendants (millions of mini-me's) progress in proportional steps that grow smaller and smaller and smaller, yet they follow the Golden rule and preserve the original  loving relationship (the Golden Ratio) between God, Abraham and Isaac.

Conversely, the Golden Rule is the means by which small and ordinary people may find a medium or means for relating to God.  So long as a person or a people persist in their faith and practice of the Golden Rule, they will remain in right relationship with God and they will grow in ever greater Golden Spirals toward heaven. This was God's promise to Abraham, and Christ's promise to all who believe in Him.

At the heart of God's promise is a three-part Golden ratio, a tri-unity that provides an excellent analogy for the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  They are 3-in-1.  Outwardly they appear to be distinct and separate portions of a line (a line, it's larger portion, and its smaller portion).  Yet upon careful analysis they are analogous and, indeed, identical.  They are all one.

Realizing this, one never need fear separation from the Kingdom of God, for truly the Kingdom of God is within you and all around you.  Indeed, where ever bread is broken in the right spirit of love, God is there.

Abraham and Christ as Mediators

Both Abraham and Christ play the role of mediators or mediums.  They are the "middle term" in the three portions of the Golden Ratio.  They act as a medium or bridge that connects the little people to God.

God is the largest portion (the whole line), Abraham and Jesus are the Big Daddy portions of the line, and Isaac represents the Baby portion, the common man or little guy.  It's Abraham who brings Isaac into right relationship with God, and Jesus who brings the common people into right relationship with God.  

The Holy Spirit of God was translated to Isaac and his descendants through Abraham.  Likewise, the Holy Spirit of reconciliation with God was translated to all of mankind through Christ Jesus.

That's Christian teaching in a nutshell: a golden ratio. Christians relate to God through Christ, as mediator, or through the Blessed Virgin as mediatrix.  They do not presume to understand God as a whole.  They admit they are small and that God is very large, therefore they seek the help of a medium or an intercessor to reconcile them with God.

Christians do not submit to the authority of corrupt states or corrupt leaders like King Herod or Pontius Pilate for exactly this reason: Kings and Princes and Fat Cats are not necessarily mediators of God's will   (There's something definitely "off" about anyone who manages to divide a group but fails to reconcile people as a whole!)

A true Prince of Peace brings people back together into right relationship with each other and with God.