Trinity Sunday is a difficult day for preachers. We start by saying “the Holy Trinity is a mystery.” Then we take the next 10 or 15 minutes minutes trying to explain that mystery. And as hard as that is for us, it is even harder for you, who have to sit through that long and complicated explanation. So, today, I will start by saying “the Holy Trinity is a mystery.” And then I will not try to explain it.
OK. I know you like short homilies, but maybe not that short. So, perhaps you will allow me to make an observation.
We live in a world that has a real problem with Mystery. People want so much to understand everything that surrounds them that if they can’t understand something, they convince themselves that it doesn’t exist. That it is not real. Like Mystery. Like God.
Our society seems to have largely forgotten what and who ‘God’ is. Society seems to think God is some fairytale figure in the sky. Some ancient myth or story. Or some personal opinion or belief that has no place in public discourse. Kind of makes it hard to talk about God, or to share our faith.
Because even if we do try to share, mere words cannot sum God up or pin God down. How can you use words to point to what cannot be said? To something that is beyond words. To mystery.
We try, though, don’t we? We talk about God by talking about what is the very essence of God … Love. We talk about God in the human image of parent, of the Father who cares for us, nurtures us, watches over us, directs us in love. We talk about God in the image of brother, the Son, Jesus, who joined with us in our human world, giving himself for us in his human life and death. We talk about God the Holy Spirit who is God’s love in the depths of our being, sharing God’s love with us so that we can love with God’s love. Yet, even those words fail us.
The doctrine of the Trinity takes us into the mystery of who God is, but it does not explain or dispel the mystery. And a much as society doesn’t want to deal with Mystery, it is a fact that as human beings, we need mystery. We need to be aware of that which is mysterious in life. We need to see that mysteries are to be lived; they are not problems to be solved.
A mystery is not meant to be understood. A mystery is just meant to be entered into.
And I guess that begs the question ….. How does one enter into a mystery? To be honest, I don’t have an answer for you. I just have an answer for me. One that helps me to encounter the mystery. Maybe it will work for you. Maybe not.
The way of encountering Mystery for me comes from my belief that the greatest insights of our lives comes from our ability to sense how God surrounds us in love, how God surrounds us in grace, how God surrounds us in mercy. I guess for this aging soul, my prayer nowadays consists less of rote and ritual, not that they aren’t important, but my prayer has transformed to taking time to quiet my mind, to sit in silence, and to hear God’s whispers in my soul.
And where does that insight most clearly come into focus? For me, it comes when I surround myself in nature. Immersed in God’s creation. The sun making haloes around the tops of trees is my candle. The myriad smells of the field and forest, my incense, and the babbling brooks and birdsong, my choir.”
If we continue to live our lives at faster and faster paces, We risk missing being aware of God’s Presence. We risk missing our encounter with the Trinity. We risk missing our encounter with mystery.
Perhaps, like me, you discover that the Mystery of God surrounds you in nature. Others of you may enter that mystery in ritual: the chanting of prayers, the lighting of candles, the subtle presence of God in liturgy. For others, you enter that mystery through music. Through song. Through Art. And while our ways of encountering the mystery of God may differ, one thing remains the same …. It is through entering that mystery we experience God soothing presence. We hear God’s whispers in our soul.
So, regardless of the way we enter into mystery, all of those paths allow us to slow down so that our senses can encounter what is around us in the present moment; allow us to open our eyes, and see beyond what the eyes reveal; allow us to open our ears, to listen beyond the sounds, the words, the music; allow us to open our hearts to be touched by those who encounter us; allow us to be present to the silence and to experience God’s soothing presence in the Mystery of the present moment.
For the Trinity is a mystery. And a mystery is not meant to be understood…. A mystery is just meant to be entered into. Slow down, and enter the mystery.