The Trinity
May has been quite a challenging month for which to write these weekly prayers! First we had Vocation Sunday, then the Ascension, followed by Pentecost and this week it is Trinity Sunday – but I volunteered to write them, so here goes!
This week we think of the Trinity – ‘God in three persons,’ as the hymn writer tells us – God the Father, Jesus, God’s Son and God the Holy Spirit – different, but all one God. We have a set of table mats:
They are all the same. Imagine that each one is a different part of the Trinity, each with a part to play. They can work closely together yet still separately to create a bigger picture, or a larger mat:
Guests are fascinated by these mats and enjoy the puzzle of fitting them together to put back in the box!
Together, they form something which is solid and reliable yet they seem to be reaching out. I like to think that we can compare the formation to the Trinity. George Stuart, in ‘Summer’, an anthology collected by Ruth Burgess, thinks of the Trinity as ‘God beyond, God within, and God between’ and I think the photo illustrates this – three in one and one in three. In Revelations 22:12 we read that God says he is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the End.
This is how I think of the Trinity: God the Creator, is limitless, a mystery, beyond our comprehension, God within, is his/her interaction with the world and us through Jesus, God between, is the gift of Holy Spirit who enables us to understand God’s purpose for us and who enables us to carry on the work that Jesus began. Three in One and One in Three.
Hymn: StF 9 Hail! Holy, holy, holy Lord!
A Blessing for Trinity Sunday
May the eyes of the seeing Father watch over us and keep us and ours ever in his gaze.
May the arms of the loving Saviour hold us close and surround each moment of our lives with his care.
May the wings of the living Spirit shelter each of us and enfold all our days and nights with God’s peace.
Amen
(Simon Taylor from ‘Summer’, a Wild Goose Publication)
Ruth Parrott – CoChair North
