God in the First Person

“God in three persons” refers to the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit – but it may also be understood in a grammatical sense. When we refer to God in the third person, we are making statements about God, using the pronoun “he.” This is the God of the theologians. God in the second person is the God with whom we have a relationship, and our prayers are directed to him using the pronoun “you.” Finally, there is God in the first person, who revealed himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai by saying, I AM WHO I AM. To enter into full communion with this God is to discover one’s own personhood wholly absorbed, as when St. Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Or Byazid of Bistum: "I went from God to God, until they cried from me to me, ‘O Thou I!’" This final stage is the understanding of God explored in this book.