WelCom June 2020:
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost, this year, Sunday 7 June. It celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity – the three divine persons of One God: as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Trinity – God in a Bubble?
James B Lyons
Image: Painting by Lance McNeel
What is the worst thing that could happen to you? That question was asked of children in an English language project on self-expression. There were many differing responses, including being eaten by a shark and being trapped in an earthquake, but two in particular caught the teacher’s attention: being told I was ugly; being in a family who didn’t love me.
The teacher thought these answers were probably the most honest because they revealed what is most critical to self esteem – that part of us that recognises the connection we have with each other. Anything that threatens that tie – like being labelled ugly, unworthy or unfit, or out of place – through lack of love, is devastating.
Covid-19 joined the list of ‘worst things’ when it isolated us from one another, confining us to individual bubbles. For weeks we could not meet with friends or go to work or travel. Our connection with the world was suddenly and radically changed. The dislocation of society loomed large, threatening self-esteem and personal identity big time.
Nothing and no one lives long without the means to live – whether that’s air to breathe or sun to warm or rain to grow things or people to learn from or friends to hold. Relationships are the building blocks of every life form.
This is especially so for human life in which love plays a crucial role.
Nothing and no one lives long without the means to live – whether that’s air to breathe or sun to warm or rain to grow things or people to learn from or friends to hold. Relationships are the building blocks of every life form.
Our ‘bubble’ experience with its national emphasis on kindness and looking out for one another, can bring a new awareness of unity and togetherness, and even a fresh understanding of God.
The Christian God is a family – named as a Trinity of persons defined as LOVE – revealed as One God, home to three distinct persons, named in human terms as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The description of God that St John gives us – that God is Love – points us back to our ‘bubble’ and the community of love that sought only the good of everyone.
Made in the image of God, each of us is a walking, jumping, running and thinking expression of the Trinity. Drawn into relationship with one another, we can come to know God and witness God’s presence simply by being true to ourselves and our nature. We can picture ourselves, and all people, in one big bubble, with God.
God as Parent is creative, bringing into being and keeping life alive; God as Son is the healer and reconciler, mending the brokenness in creation caused by the misuse of the gift of freedom; God as Holy Spirit is the encourager, the enabler – the one who breathes wisdom and joy into our efforts, unites and holds in harmony the variety of gifts.
These aspects of our one God are highlighted in today’s readings (Sunday 7 May): the Book of Exodus, 34:4-9, announcing a special relationship between humanity and the God of tenderness and compassion; the beautiful passage from 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, urging our faithfulness to this relationship by growing in unity and peace; and the Gospel, John 3:16-18, proclaiming God’s love for the world – so great that this God came to fully share our human life experience.
God as Parent is creative, bringing into being and keeping life alive; God as Son is the healer and reconciler, mending the brokenness in creation caused by the misuse of the gift of freedom; God as Holy Spirit is the encourager, the enabler – the one who breathes wisdom and joy into our efforts, unites and holds in harmony the variety of gifts.
The image of God with which we have been sealed, draws each of us to ask: am I using my creativity and my healing powers to bring about good for others; am I enabling and encouraging others to reach their full potential?
We all feel happiest when love is close by, because it’s then that God is noticeably present. What’s the worst thing that could happen to you? The little child was right: the worst thing has to be the absence of love. A broken bubble!
James Lyons – priest of the Archdiocese of Wellington.