Email Devotion, Trinity Sunday
And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’
–Galatians 4:6, NRSV
Also there is a similitude of a Trinity shining in the body, soul and spirit. –George Ripley
It feels a bit risky to define the Trinity in terms of my own human person. That has to be some kind of humanist heresy, for sure, right? Yet I risk it, because in some way, the doctrine of the Trinity appears to demand it.
After all, does God need the doctrine of the Trinity to define God’s own self? … hmmmm … I doubt it. God looks in the mirror each morning and says “Hi!” and knows exactly who she/he is addressing. No, the doctrine of the Trinity is formulated for the sake of God’s children … so that we can understand how we relate to God — how the arc of our lives intersect with God’s life. The doctrine of the Trinity is formulated precisely so that we can grasp the unique ways that God invites us to be in relationship with Father, Son and Spirit … with Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier … with Daddy-O, Junior, and Spook. Yes, in some ways the doctrine of the Trinity is the most human of theological constructions.
I share this because in so many ways our talk about the Trinity is like learning a foreign language filled with words that we struggle to comprehend and sentence structures that are confusing. But why would God want to confuse and confound us? Do you seek to confuse your children? Of course not. And yet we allow complicated theological arguments and rationales to bring wedges of ignorance between us and our God.
So in your prayer life this coming week, why not try praying for a spirit of simplicity Pray to have eyes and ears open to the clear and obvious ways in which God speaks to you and loves you and guides you. Don’t make this harder than it is. Since it is Holy Trinity Sunday, pray that your heavenly Father directs you to places where faith comes alive … that your brother, Christ, walks with you in the journey of faith discovery … and that the Holy Spirit blesses all that you do in ways that draws you ever closer to your God. This journey we take is not a test of faith … it is an invitation into a relationship. Allow that God who reaches out to us at every turn and in every setting is just waiting for you to listen to the word of grace spoken to you.
Oh my beloved Adonai you are alive for me today. Seeing the wind caress the branches of the trees I am delivered by your grace into the infinity of your existence. You are alive in me today. I feel your presence coursing through my body and burning my heart with a golden fire. Your voice — such sweet silent flames of raging love that purify me in blissful splendor but do not consume me. Oh My Beloved, oh Ever Faithful One, open my mouth so that my lips may declare Your praise now and always open my heart to Your Love now and forever.
–Early morning blessing, Ronald Bedrick
