In the busyness of our daily lives with their routines, pressures and anxieties, we may not stop too often to think about how God may be present in our lives and indeed whether and how intimately God wants to know us. The invitation of Trinity Sunday this week is to do just that – to take the opportunity to slow down and reflect on these questions.
The concept of the Trinity – that there is only one God who exists as three persons, namely Father, Son and Holy Spirit – was an early and at the time controversial doctrine in the church. According to the laws of maths and science such a statement makes no sense, yet according to the lived experience of Christians down through the centuries it is how we encounter God.
The Bible readings chosen for us in the Lectionary this week reveal various aspects of God’s nature and God’s action. Each tears back the veil for a moment to reveal a deeper spiritual reality that is often hidden from our sight.
We learn from Isaiah’s encounter with God in the Jerusalem temple that God is awe-inspiring and holy yet also full of grace. In the story of Nicodemus meeting with Jesus we learn that if we want to know God and God’s ways we need to be born from above through the action of the Holy Spirit. This is a little mysterious, with Jesus comparing the action of the Spirit to the wind, blowing where it will. And from Paul’s letter to the Romans we learn that through the Spirit, God had adopted as children into God’s forever family and promised us the privileges that come from this intimate level of relationship with God, whom we are invited to call Abba, Father.
How all of this works is something of a mystery, something to experience rather than something to try and explain or rationalise. May God bless us this week with curiosity and insight as we ponder both who God is and how God wants to love us and treasure us.