The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you for ever. -The Holy Eucharist: Rite One, BCP p. 339
I suspect most Christians struggle intellectually with the concept of the Holy Trinity. We believe in one God, but we invoke "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" in countless places in our liturgy. The Trinity allows us to see different facets of God and the different ways that God works in human life.
I once preferred to see God exclusively as the Father, a power above us. Though my own human father was not a disciplinarian, some of my earliest adult ideas of God included a father's discipline. Much of our Christian tradition seems to equate the "Father" aspect of the Trinity with the law, giving us the intimidating disciplinarian who keeps us out of trouble.
Later in life, I preferred to think of God as the Son, the very being of God in human flesh. Seeing God incarnate in Jesus allowed me to have a more practical faith, one which translated the power of God into acts of human flesh. God the Son gave me tangible ways of putting God's presence into practice, as Jesus showed me how a perfect human being responds to the challenges of earthly existence.
I struggled most to understand God the Holy Spirit. My struggle came not from the inability to see God changing me and working within me, but from the "bad press" given to the Holy Spirit by friends. Once I realized that my fear of the Holy Spirit came from the flawed ideas I'd been given, I loved the idea that God's presence lives in me and works through me.
Ultimately, I see the Trinity as constant and as important in a maturing and more complete view of God. I have moved from God the Father and disciplinarian, to God the Son and model human being, to God the Holy Spirit and the power of God at work within us.
God above us. God with us, God in us. God, protect us, walk with us, inspire us.
From Disciples on the Way by Carol Mead
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