Janet’s letter to the Community
Trinity Sunday will happen on the 7th June. Thinking about what to write about this month, and having thought I’d run out of things to say about Coronavirus and Covid-19, I was moved to look back at my previous articles and struck by the fact that, now in my sixth year at St Paul’s Goodmayes, I hadn’t written a magazine article about the Trinity.
Now this is interesting, because a belief in the Trinity is central to the Christian faith. The affirmation of faith that we are using at the moment, in our Sunday services on Zoom, makes it very clear as it ends with us joining together in the statement: “We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” One God … Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God … three persons. OK – so perhaps that’s why I haven’t written about it in a magazine article before – it’s complicated!
Can I come up with a short, watertight, logical explanation for this theological mystery? No – I can’t. Do I nevertheless think it’s important? Yes – I do. Why? Because the theology of the Trinity shows us a God in relationship. Christian doctrine teaches that there are in the Trinity three distinct persons: God the Father, the creator; God the Son, the redeemer; God the Holy Spirit, the sustainer. And these three persons, sharing one nature, the nature of God, live together in such complete harmony and unity of purpose, that they are one. They exist in an eternal relationship of love – not an exclusive relationship of two people, but an inclusive relationship of three, giving and receiving and creating, opening up to draw the whole of humanity into the life of God. God is community. God is relationship. God is love.
And if that is true then human beings, made in the image of God, find their own best expression in community, in relationship, in love. We are made to be in community – supportive, reciprocal, creative. That is perhaps why it is so hard at the moment when many of us are separated from those we love, and we cannot meet properly as a church community. My prayer is that this time of separation will make us all the more appreciative of each other when we can meet again, and will also make us determined to do all we can to support each other through this difficult time. So – it seems that I haven’t quite run out of things to say about Coronavirus and Covid-19 and their effect on our lives!
With continued prayers and every blessing for you all,
Janet