iˈmərZHən, noun: the act of being so completely involved in something that you forget what it’s like to be outside of it.
You have heard the quip that a fish doesn’t know that it’s immersed in water, because it has never known anything else. This is often applied to culture: the social or business environment that we cannot clearly identify or extricate ourselves from because we are so intricately intertwined with it.
Trinitarian surround sound is just like that water: it completely envelopes and engulfs us, along with all that we can see and imagine. Immersion within this Jesus-God-Spirit music/life/dance is the water that we swim in, the air that we breathe, the rhythm of all movement. Because we’re not fish, we can intellectually explore the philosophical, theological, sociological, etc. elements of this reality. And most importantly, we can experience the embodiment that comes from attention.
We cannot escape the Trinitarian surround sound enfolding. We can’t get away from its eternal rhythms and echoes. However, we can close ourselves off from its music by inserting metaphorical ear plugs, even a bit of ear wax can dull its sound. You’ll miss the highs and lows and the nuances of the inner movement of the secondary melodies; the variations and subtleties will disappear. This week, let’s get rid of the ear plugs and clean out the wax, so that we experience afresh the power and joy of immersion in the Jesus surround sound.
I have no way to provide recorded music that mimics embodiment. However, creating a quiet, private space by putting on some headphones and closing the door, can help. This week’s music is Mendelssohn, pastoral, engaging, immersive.