Thoughts on the Trinity

Yesterday was Trinity Sunday in the Anglican church calendar.  It is the day in the church year in which we celebrate the three-fold nature of God.  It might be tempting for a non-Christian to ponder if Christians claim to be monotheists why do they worship three Gods?    There is no simple answer to that―at least one that I am aware of.  However, I am a full-blown Trinitarian and have no problem (at least on my better days) believing in the three-fold God of the creeds; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit or as some parts of the Christian church has updated it; Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

That being said, I must confess that I am partial to the third person of that Trinity; the Holy Spirt.  I have said elsewhere, perhaps a bit irreligiously, that the Holy Spirit is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Trinity, ‘it don’t get no respect’.  God the Father and God the Son usually get more attention and honour in the church, at least the part I am familiar with, except for special occasions such as Pentecost.  Considering it was an integral part at the beginning of things; “1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1: 1-2).  The Holy Spirit was the responsible for the incarnation, “The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” (Luke 1:35).  We are also told about its nature in John’s Gospel that the Holy spirit is unpredictable, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So, it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

I believe that it is this characteristic of the Holy Spirit, the unpredictable and uncontrollable nature, that has determined its lowlier estate in much of organized religion.  The Holy Spirit blows where it chooses and is not constrained by the church hierarchy.  Try as they might, and they have, the clergy cannot control the Holy Spirit and more than anyone else is able to.  To my mind, the main characteristic of the Holy Spirit is that it inspires.  The way it inspires which I am particularly thankful for is in our dreams which are aptly called, God’s Forgotten Language.

However, there is much which can be challenging and frustrating with the Holy Spirit.  It never, as far as I know, operates on command.  We may wish that we could call upon it when and where it is needed but it is beyond our control.  This desire has been called elsewhere ‘God the Butler’, a God who can be called up from the servant’s quarters when it is convenient and desirable. 

Now I don’t want to leave you with the impression that I don’t believe in the importance of the other two Persons of the Trinity.  God the Creator has created and continues to create and I have been redeemed by the sacrifice of God the Son.  All three are important and necessary to my life.  But as with our children it may not be politic to have a favourite but it is human.

The question I will leave you with, at least your Christians, is, which Person of the Trinity do you pray to when you pray?  

Blessings on your journey.