The appearance of God to Abraham before the oak of Mamre in Genesis 18 is mysterious. The text says that God appeared to Abraham and then describes how three men appeared to Abraham and interacted with him. Was God one of the three men who appeared? Was God all three of the men? Were the three men really angels? Does this passage suggest that God is both three and one? Was it all just a dream?
Ignatian spirituality accepts these mysteries. It asks us neither to ignore them nor to solve them, but to enter into them. Try it. Dedicate 15 quiet minutes today to imagining the scene with your eyes closed and your body relaxed. Try to see the oak of Mamre in your mind’s eye, and the shade it casts at noon in the middle-East. Encourage your imagination to paint a full picture. See Abraham waiting on the three men, bringing them food and water. Hear Abraham’s wife, Sarah, laughing out loud while they are speaking. Force your imagination to activate, then let it run free, and perhaps, just perhaps, God might choose to intervene.