THE FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY: June 3, 2007

Proverbs 8:22-31
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

Dear Jesus,

Who can understand the Trinity? Should anyone try? Isn’t it the nature of mystery to be partly grasped even as the essence escapes comprehension? The mystery of the Trinity – that is how God is revealed to us who believe in you. Three persons in one unique nature – God. Father. Son. Holy Spirit. Creator. Redeemer. Sanctifier. God.

Often as I pray I sit before the Rublev icon of the Trinity. Three gloriously clad winged beings sit about a table, a bowl containing the slaughtered and roasted lamb before them. As I ponder, I can get lost in the icon even as it invites me to enter. I gaze at the mystery and the wonder that is you and am filled with awe and am humbled as I realize I am invited to enter and complete the circle. It is the nature of the icon to be a window into heaven and to draw the beholder to come in.

How many times over how many years have I pondered this glorious work? How many times have I struggled to interpret the signs it contains? How many times have I wept at the layers of meaning, the depth of mystery captured there? I’ve asked you to guide me. Always there is silence. And yet I feel you encouraging me. Do not be afraid, I think you say. I go before you. Come. Follow me.

It is your Father who sits at the left, the heavenly blue fabric, worn by all three, is nearly covered by his ethereal robe of indescribable color. Who can see God? And he points to you, robed in blue but in earth tones, too. Divinity and humanity come together in you. And the sash over your shoulder is the symbol of all authority that the Father has given to you. Eyes fixed on the Father, you point to the Spirit, the One you send, the One who makes known all that you have taught to beings incapable of comprehending without the Spirit’s aid.

I drink in the imagery that emerges in the backdrop. Does that craggy rock above the Spirit represent the steep climb entailed in being with you on The Way? And is it the hill you climbed with the burden of my sins in the cross on your back, the hill that all you invite to follow you must climb, and once there, to die with you? Above you is the oak of Mamre, which stood near where Abraham saw the three angelic creatures in the text that is Rublev’s inspiration for this icon. The tree towers over you and over the table of sacrifice. The tree provides shade in the heat of the day. One can pause there and ponder life’s decisions, faith decisions necessary if I am to walk with you. It is also the tree to which you were nailed that transformed the instrument of death and defeat into the tree of life, our reason to hope. The crag leads to the tree that stands between it and the house above the Father. In my Father’s house there are many mansions. Dying with you on the tree is the means of access to the heavenly dwelling.

How long ago was it that I came to realize it is not enough to sit and gaze at this masterpiece, to remain apart from it? If I pray before it I must yield to the invitation to complete the circle at the table and enter the relationship, the community that is there. You see why I wept? It is all too wonderful.

Why does my mind leap to God’s words in Genesis at the very dawn of creation? Let us make the earthling in our own image. And God breathes life into the clay of the earth. The Creature that results cannot live alone and in isolation. The Creature, and all those who share in that creature’s nature, must live in communion that reflects and is part of the community that is God. That community is spousal. That community is intimate friendship in one who is the other half of my soul. That community is Church with a membership wide and diverse that is your Body and that shares the life that is the Trinity.

The Table in the icon shimmers white, as do the haloes around the heads of the Three. Beyond gold, white is divine. For us the Table is the primary symbol of you, of your sacrifice, and is the place where you invite us to gather and share the meal that is your Body and Blood. The Triune God loves unconditionally all made in God’s image and likeness. And so all are welcome here. Take and eat. Take and drink. And when we do, the whole Church is present as God reigns.

Forgive me if I have rambled. There is much more that comes to mind as I ponder this holy image. I know that I will continue to pray with it and wonder at its power and mystery. I may fear it. But please, hold out your hand and empower me to enter.

Sincerely,

Didymus