Trinity Sunday

The great theologians all say that the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity is ultimately a mystery. DUH. No kidding. 3 = 1? 1 = 3? It's totally illogical. Impossible. Dumb, even. Or so it seems.

A good friend of mine and I once had the chance to play with a helium-neon laser in an advanced high school physics project. We locked ourselves away, day after day, in a little side lab room in the physics class; and I remember we actually did more "playing" with the thing than actual research--like bouncing the little beam out the window with a mirror and freaking people out in the school parking lot...or shooting it through a small hole in the door and shining it on the back of the physics teacher's head while he wrote on the blackboard. :-) But, we did do some honest research. Through a vastly elaborate proof, using the laser, a water tank, mirrors, and who knows what else, my friend (a mathematical whiz) actually proved 4 = 0. Sort of. Though we could find no fault with our proof...well, let's just say it didn't pass muster.

That 3 = 1 doesn't pass muster with a lot of people either. One of the main criticisms of Christianity, a monotheistic religion (ONE God) is that the Trinity seemingly contradicts monotheism. And, another complaint is that the Trinity, per se, never appears anywhere in the Bible. Which it doesn't; it is implied in many places, but is never mentioned specifically. So Christians often resort to physical analogies to try and explain or comprehend the Trinity. For example, think of an egg. It has three parts (the "white", the yolk, and the shell), but it is ONE thing, and would not "be" an egg if it were missing one of the parts.

Or consider water. It can exist in three distinct physical states--as a gas or vapor (steam), as a solid (ice), or as a liquid. Yet, in all its forms, it is the same thing: H2O. Theoretically, any of the chemical elements can exist in these three states, if the physical conditions are right. Still, these kinds of analogies are far from perfect. The truly skeptical and rationally-minded among us just cannot buy into 3 = 1. It just is not RATIONAL, or POSSIBLE.

I have to chuckle at this. Entire technologies and industries (even economies) are built upon the "irrational" and the "impossible." We have never really seen an atom, let alone the infinitesimally small subatomic particles that make up atoms, like quarks and gluons and leptons, and all the crazy zoo of particle physics (and to "see" these we have to "smash" atoms and watch what flies out of the wreckage). A lot of it is conjecture, theoretical, which seems to fit the math, and sort of explain basic physical laws . Quantum science just doesn't make a lot of sense sometimes; even the great granddaddy of quantum physics, Albert Einstein, once said "The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it looks." I personally am still trying to wrap my head around the whole particle-wave dichotomy, which says an elemental particle, like a photon or an electron, is sometimes a wave, and at other times is not a wave, but an individual particle. There's a degree of uncertainty about when and how this is that. Thanks, Dr. Heisenberg!

So when it comes to the Trinity, or just about any of the great theological "mysteries" of the Christianity, I accept it/them on faith, on the witness of Scripture, and centuries of wisdom from people who are a lot smarter than I am. I also accept it/them through subjective experience. Again, the ultra-rationalist will say "See, you can't really PROVE it though!" True enough. But then, neither can I prove the existence of an electron...yet I still flip on the light switch every morning so I don't trip on my way to the bathroom. Neither can I prove the quantum weak force...but you better believe I'll get a chest X-ray when my doctor tells me too!

A Prayer for Trinity Sunday

Father God, Creator, you call the worlds into being, scattering stars and galaxies like dandelion seeds...and it works, and it is good, and it is way beyond our comprehension. Still, accept our praise and thanksgiving for the mystery and glory of creation, and for our very own existence.

Lord Jesus, Anointed One, who makes the Creator comprehensible to our feeble and limited minds, you put a human face on Eternity. You enflesh Vastness and Timelessness. You make real what seems impossible. You make personal that which is totally Other. You reconcile us with Unattainable Perfection. Without you, we are lost, and ignorant, and sold to the slavery of mere knowledge.

Holy Spirit, you are the unseen yet real Power of life itself. You hold us together. You teach us what cannot be known. You save what cannot be saved. You humble our unspeakable pride, convict our selfish hearts, heal our broken lives, and tame our savage lusts. And you do it only when we let you.

So, most loving Triune God, help us let you. Nudge us closer. Speak to us from beyond time and enter each of our moments; love us into loving others. Do the impossible amongst us, and in us, that we will never cease to wonder at your mystery, and give you glory for the majesty of all that is, and all you make it possible for us to be. Amen.