Thoughts for the Day

Jesus said, ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.'

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I am useless at Maths, though ok at accounts! But mental arithmetic, or conundrums like 1 x 1 x 1 = 1, leave me utterly cold. So while thinking of the Trinity I looked up '1 x 1 x 1 = 1' on the internet, and this is what came up:

"1 is 1 because that is the definition of multiplying by 1. It is not 2 because x is a recognized, accepted symbol for the operation of multiplication, NOT addition. Multiplying by 1 is the unit for multiplication, meaning if you multiply by one you get the same thing."

All clear now? Or is it as clear as mud? If it's clear, you now understand the concept of the Holy Trinity - God the Father x God the Son x God the Holy Spirit = God.

In the passage from John's Gospel above, John mentions the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, though he does rather concentrate on the latter. But the point is that while individually they are fully God and equal in nature, each member of the Trinity has different roles. So we might say that God is the Creator (or Father); the Son is the Redeemer (or Saviour); and the Holy Spirit is the Helper (or Power), but each can involve themselves in another's role. So while the Father is the Creator both the Son (eg John 1.1-14) and the Spirit (eg Psalm 104.30) are also involved in creation; while the Son is the Redeemer, both the Father and the Spirit are involved in sending the Son to rescue humanity; and while the Spirit is the Helper or Power of God at work today, yet the Father and the Son cooperate in His work (eg Matthew 3.16-17). As well as this our Bible speaks of the Three as communicating with one another and testifying to each other (eg John 14.8-10). Each member of the Trinity fully cooperates with the other two, and is personally involved in all aspects of God’s work.

The One God we worship has always been composed of Three. He is both Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. Perhaps it just depends on the way we look at Him and the needs we have at different times of our life?

Collect for Trinity Sunday

Holy God,
faithful and unchanging:
enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth,
and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love,
that we may truly worship you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.