The Gospel today is a hallmark scripture for the Trinity, the theological Essential Unity in the Christian tradition.* Theology, cosmology, psychology, biology, so many “ologies” I can think of, increasingly speak to me of an essential unity. That unity may show up with different names, like energy, God, harmony, wholeness. As my life unfolds in this fragmented, unsettling world, Essential Unity inspires my hope.
I wonder what my grandchildren think about it and am imagining an upcoming conversation. As a child, my Sunday School teacher explained the unity of the Trinity to me in terms of water.
God the Source was compared to fluid water. Jesus, God-With-Us, was specific like an ice cube. The Holy Spirit was a vast permeating form like steam or mist. As I reflect now, this simple explanation still makes sense to me. There have been numerous ways of representing the Trinity, a lot of attention recently given to the idea of a dance. But I’m sticking with water with its clarity and distinctiveness of forms.
For one thing, many compelling scriptures allude to water images. In Genesis, God is the great mysterious force hovering over the vast Living Waters at creation, bringing forth all that is. This is the One who created us to be well-watered and guides us so that we can be like a spring whose waters never fail.
Jesus is the incarnate one who is sent to live among us as Living Water. And Jesus is the one who offers us living water, welling up to eternal life. He is one of us, relatable, someone to see and touch and hold on to. Jesus’ life and teachings continue to refresh and reveal the divine path of being human.
Baptism of course involves water but perhaps most important is that we are baptized by the Spirit. It is poured out on us, it descends, it goes where it will, and it lives within us forever. Mysteriously, mystically, and ubiquitously, the Spirit is the communion of Jesus with Abba, so that he says “all the Father has is mine” and the Spirit will glorify both of them by declaring truth and wisdom to us.
Though the Trinity is one unity, it is helpful to ponder the distinctions. It comforts me to have various ways of comprehending divinity. Perhaps, most valuable to me, is that the various forms, separately and together, invite me to ever-growing awareness of the unity of all of life.
I am moved by God’s own hope to seek us in multiple ways — that God so loves the world that there is a trinity of forms reaching out to establish and expand our relationship. In the harsh circumstances of living in this heartbreaking world, every day I can see the majesty and power of the Creator with my eyes. I can see a divine pattern in Jesus’ choices and words and actions that I can hold on to and aspire to. And I can open to the guiding counsel of the Spirit who, Jesus reminds us, will guide me into truth and declare what is to come. And these three ways are exactly what I need, every day.
–Ann Dean, Dayspring Church
- Which form of God did you first relate to: Creator, Jesus, or Holy Spirit?
- Is there a particular image of God that opens you to prayer?
- How do you describe the Trinity?
