Skip to main content

Meditating on the Trinity

Our local church of Dundonald Methodist has recently started a Friday night class for those interested in sequence dancing… and it is proving a great success across the generations and with people who haven’t been involved with any previous church programmes. Perhaps it’s the high profile of TV shows like “Strictly come Dancing” and “So You Think You Can Dance” that have captured people’s imagination… In fact we have called our programme “So you think You Can’t Dance” as it is aimed at people who know they are never likely to be Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers.
Not everyone has been in favour as the Methodist church, along with some others, traditionally saw dancing as an excuse for inappropriate intimacy between the sexes, and for a long while it was actually banned on church premises. But that is no longer the case, and while I haven’t actively participated myself, I can assure anyone who is worried about it that there is nothing lascivious or lewd about what is taking place in our church halls on a Friday evening… Come along and check it out if you're worried…
But in this week running up to Trinity Sunday it reminded me again of that ancient Antiochene concept of perichoresis, where each person of the Trinity intimately permeates each other, as if the Trinity is engaged in an eternal dance with each other. Not an intense, exclusive tango that you have to "break in2 to, but a joy-filled country dance where the three "partners" dosey-doe around each other, and in which we are all invited to participate...

And with that picture in mind, let me leave you with a short meditation I wrote for Trinity Sunday last year



Symbol of threeness in perfect unity
The enduring earth, surrounding sea and boundless sky
The ever changing continuum of past, present and future
The family of Father, Mother and beloved child.

Name of the threeness; perfect trinity:
The Father of all who gives life: to strengthen you in your weakness
The Son our Saviour who gave his life: to surround you with his love
The Spirit, the breath of life: to overshadow you with perfect peace.

I bind unto myself this day
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same
Three in one and one in three
© David Campton 2009



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LentArt: Washing the Disciples' Feet

Today's #LentArt post is "The washing of the disciples' feet" by Ghislaine Howard, another piece from the wonderful Methodist Modern Art Collection. It has clearly struck a chord with a number of people, and I am delighted that tonight's guest blog is by my friend and fellow 4 Corners Director, Father Martin Magill, who, he will be embarrassed to have me say, is for me the epitome of a servant leader. Indeed it was interesting to have a friend and artist respond to my earlier post saying that this time last year she remembers having her feet washed by Martin... How much has changed in a year: This painting (completed in 2004) was inspired by these words from the gospel of John in today's lectionary:  Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God. So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Living under the Empire... (2) Where is Babylon?

We were driving back from school last week, talking about books that we had been reading and my younger son, Ciaran, asked me "Where is Babylon?" I have to confess that my history is better than my geography, and I said that it no longer exists as an inhabited city, but its ruins were to the north west of the current capital of Iraq, Baghdad. When I checked however, I discovered that it is actually about 50 miles south of Baghdad and the modern town is the administrative centre of the province of Babil... But just as the modern city is but a shadow of the historic capital of 2 ancient empires, first under Hammurabi in the 18th century BCE and then the "Neo-Babylonian" empire (under Nebuchadnezzar etc) in the 6th century BCE, so the earthly Babylonian empire/s was/were fleeting in comparison to the enduring metaphorical idea of Babylon. The original Empire under Hammurabi was probably the ultimate origin of some of the early Biblical stories, including the ...
2 comments
Read more

A Woman of no Distinction

Don't often post other people's stuff here... But I found this so powerful that I thought I should. It's a performance poem based on John 4: 4-30, and I have attached the original YouTube video below. A word for women, and men, everywhere... "to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known." I am a woman of no distinction of little importance. I am a women of no reputation save that which is bad. You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances, Though you don’t really take the time to look at me, Or even get to know me. For to be known is to be loved, And to be loved is to be known. Otherwise what’s the point in doing either one of them in the first place? I WANT TO BE KNOWN. I want someone to look at my face And not just see two eyes, a nose, a mouth and two ears; But to see all that I am, and could be all my hopes, loves and fears. But that’s too much to hope for, to wish for, or pray for So I don’t, not anymore. Now I keep to myself And by that ...
3 comments
Read more