I am

In spanish there are two terms for I am. So you might say I am tired. That doesn't mean that who you are is a tired person, it means that right now you are tired. It seems to me to be a transient state.
The other word in Spanish for I am is a characteristic. I am hospitable. It speaks to a core characteristic. (I can't remember much Spanish so this blog post is coming out of my memory and the words of my friend John Evans.)

This distinction came to mind when I read a bit of Jurgen Moltmann in The Way of Jesus Christ. He said 1 John (4:16) "defines God by saying: 'God is love.' God does not love just as he might also be angry. He is love. His being and existence is love. In Christ he constitutes himself as love. This happened on the cross." (pg. 175) So "God is" would be the same verb as "I am." When talking about how closely God is tied to love it would be one not of transience, but of identity.

I found the analogy to Spanish helpful. God gets angry in the Bible, but God is not Anger. The overriding quality of God is love. I do believe that "God is love" goes even deeper than that Spanish word, but the distinction is still deeply important if we are to take seriously the anger of God (and other qualities difficult to swallow like judgment, wrath, distance etc.) while still clinging tightly to the love of God that is so central.

P.S. my husband says the words in Spanish are Soy and Estar, but we aren't certain which is which. Anyone know?