Trinity Explained, A Halting Effort

I did not send out an edition of News and Views last week as Lorna and I were travelling to our cottage in P.E.I.—the Island province of Canada for readers who are not Canadian.  One American friend wished me” a good summer on the lake” when I told him I was going to our cottage on Prince Edward Island. 

I had a response to my most recent News and Views on the Trinity which posed some very interesting and challenging questions.  I thought I would use this venue to respond. 

Here are the questions:

Can you explain to me your grounding belief in the Trinity? I can’t explain internally the need for formal religion and rules and commitment. 

I agree that when you drill down to the bottom of all... be good treat people as you want to be treated..  try to correct wrongs when you can etc. 

Does it come down to blind faith? What drives you to continue?  Do you ever feel that your energy would better placed in just straight up social justice?

On reflection, I don’t think it would be wise to try and tackle all of them this week.  That would take more space than I try and allot for these epistles.  So, will spend the next few weeks responding to them.  Today I will try and tackle the question of my Trinitarian belief—the saying about fools rushing in does come to mind, but here goes.

At this point in my life I can say without reservation that I am Trinitarian in my belief.  I haven’t always been able to say that.  However, it has been an evolving belief and understanding in my life.  For me each “Person” or aspect of the Trinity is the best expression I know of the nature of God/the divine.  All parts of the Trinity are necessary for my understanding and experience of God.  I am able to see God as creator in the world in which I live and the infinite universe which this world, and by implication I am a part.  I believe that this world does have a creator—it could not have happened by mere chance given the complexity and richness and manifold nature of the universe.  This is, admittedly, a matter of faith which I will explore in future musings.  It is also essential to me to be aware that I am a creature, being created by God.  I have been given gifts which make me who I am, a person of strengths and weaknesses but also a unique expression of God creation.  However, I also am aware, at least some of the time, that every human’s being is inherently worthy of respect.  I do not by any measure succeed in that all the time or even most of the time which brings me to the second Person of the Trinity; Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God the Father; fully human and fully divine.  This is the part of the Trinity which has been the greatest challenge for me over the years.  I could always appreciate Jesus as a great teacher and all-round good guy.  I might have also believed he could have performed some miracles if they could be explained rationally or scientifically such as the feeding of the 5000 when everyone brought out the bag lunch they had hidden under their cloaks.  However, I have come to believe, as it is a pure case of belief, that Jesus was the example of God expressed as fully as possible in a human person.  Everything else follows from that, miracles and healings including the big one—the resurrection. 

Perhaps the most important aspect of the revelation of the divine in Jesus is how Jesus is the perfect example of the ego in the correct relationship to God i.e. serving God rather than what seems to be part of our nature of trying to make God serve the ego.  However, it is Jesus who makes forgiveness possible for me—possible but not easy.  Jesus sacrificed himself and showed us it is possible to forgive our enemies and to be forgiven.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. 

Finally, the Third Person; the Holy Spirit.  As I mentioned previously, this is my favourite part of the Trinity.  It is the one I have the most direct experience with and of.  The Holy Spirit is the thing that moves and shapes me on a daily basis, when I pay attention to it, and even when I do not.  It brings dreams which are a revelation from God about my relationship to God and who God created me to be.   It is with me every moment of my life, waking and sleeping and is my guide and source of the divine.  However, I wish it was more predictable and easier to understand at times.

I will stop there for today.  I could say much more about the Trinity and that would only be a pin prick of what is possible to know.  Beyond that, what is important to know is that it is at bottom and top, inside and out a mystery.  And ultimately it is best to ‘let the mystery be’ to quote one of my favourite songs. 

I want to thanks the person who responded with these questions.  They lead me to places I might not otherwise explore at this moment. 

Blessings on your journey.