John 1:1
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
or…
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
or…
En el principio era el Verbo, y el Verbo era con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios.
Words are symbols. At the end of the day, each time we think of and utter (or jot down) a word, we’re trying to communicate a reality as best we can. But, despite what we’d like to believe about the clarity of scripture (in particular) and speech (in general), communication is not an exact science. It’s largely an art.
The scripture at the top of this post is John 1:1. In English, it’s usually rendered as “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
It’s one of the first scriptures I ever committed to memory, because this idea of Jesus as the revealed Word—the very incarnation of divine reason—has captivated the Christian imagination for centuries.
But, in reading Kat Armas’s Sacred Belonging (which you should absolutely check out, by the way), she speaks about how reading the scripture in Spanish brought her a different understanding of this concept. “En el principal era el Verbo.”
“In the beginning was the Verb”
It all started with an action. And the action was with God. And the action was God.
This was an eye opening idea for me. The type of stuff that gets my wheels turning. I can theologize real big off thoughts like these.
I was so excited by this idea that I brought it up on a weekly video call with my mother and sisters (because we’re nerds like that).
My mother and sisters are simply brilliant people (and in a multitude of ways, at that). Without missing a beat, one of my sisters says “Yeah, that makes sense. Words are just symbols. I think “intention” is as good a translation as Word/Verb right there.” Mind you, I went to seminary. She did not. I took all them classes in biblical languages. She did not. So that stopped me in my tracks. Cuz I can’t believe I spent all that time & money in seminary just for my sister (who don’t even be goin’ to church like that!) to be hearin’ from God so clearly. But here we are.
In the beginning was the Intention, and the Intention was with God, and the Intention was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made…. The Intention became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
(John 1:1-3,14)
The Intention was there in the beginning. It is through the Intention that all things that exist came into existence. And it is the very Intention that is revealed in Jesus.
That idea was as paradigm-shifting as Jesus as the Verb. And it made me wanna be more… well… intentional.
And so I started adding an intention for the next day in my journal each and every night.
Last Saturday night, I said that my intention for Sunday was to wake up, work out, lock in, speak well, and rest easy.
On Sunday, I woke up and ran a couple miles. I rolled my ankle in the process (remind me to lock in before I work out next time 🥴), but I did it.
I meditated and got ready to preach.
I went and preached.
And then I came home, watched South Carolina win the NCAA women’s basketball tournament (where Coach Dawn Staley felt like preaching too) while I cooked, then kicked back and read a bunch.
And it all started with the intention.
It turns out God was in all that the whole time.
This makes me want to read the Bible, but like, with people I love who give me moments like your sister did. Gotta say, that feels good to say.
I love your sister. And I’m a proud Columbia, SC resident on this fine Monday afternoon. GO GAMECOCK WOMEN!!