My children have saved me from major public humiliation on many occasions, though many times they have also been the source of my humiliation rather than my saving grace. In particular this has been prompted by my propensity to talk to myself. With my kids in tow, through the grocery aisles or driving the car, any casual observer would assume I am speaking to my offspring when in fact I am mumbling about how to divide three by five or which route is least likely to have heavy traffic at this time of day—things which my children neither know nor care to know. I must confess further that not only do I talk to myself, but I like talking to myself. I often try out foreign accents or rehearse upcoming conversations to see how they sound out loud. Recently, while practicing my emulation of Scottish brogue, I stumbled upon the thought that it must be awesome to be God.
There are, of course, many reasons why it is awesome to be God, but the one that struck me on this occasion was how God can talk to Himself and not only will no one think He’s nuts, but He talks back. God can carry on a full out conversation with Himself and it’s not creepy. I suppose one of my motivations for chatting with myself is that I am not in the mood for disagreement. Within the Trinity, however, there is distinctiveness with unity. Of course, being omniscient and all, I suppose God doesn’t have any reason to disagree with Himself. So how does that work?
If God knows everything, that would seem to make conversation unnecessary all together, right? Since person, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, would already know what the others were going to say, why bother? Of course, as I mutter about the price of Raisin Bran, I know what I am going to mutter back and yet I still do it. In my case, of course, the distinction is imaginary (and possibly a reason to seek professional help). In the case of the Trinity there is truly someone else listening.
I suppose this is where the irrepressible human impulse to communicate comes from. Just as the Godhead is in constant communication, so we desire to give form to our thoughts by way of speech. And as He so often does, God has stepped in to fill the void left by our fallenness. Rather than leaving us mumbling to ourselves, He has given His children the gift of Himself in the form of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Like an infinitely patient and proud parent listening to the prattling of a toddler, God listens to our thoughts, both internal and external. Though we aren’t able to hear Him articulate back, we know He hears. It is, as I said, awesome to be God, but being His kid isn’t too shabby either!