The Problem With Explaining the Trinity
What if the mystery is not something to solve, but something to enter into?
Welcome to today’s reflection.
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It happened every year around this time.
The week before Trinity Sunday would arrive, and fellow clergy would begin desperately emailing one another in search of that killer illustration that could finally explain the Trinity.
Someone would suggest a three-leafed clover.
Someone else would mention water existing as liquid, ice, and steam.
I remember using Neapolitan ice cream at one point, complete with a visual representation that melted before the service started.
I even heard elephants brought into the conversation somewhere along the way.
The goal was always the same. We wanted to find an image that would make the Trinity relatable and understandable.
After all, the doctrine seems confusing on the surface. Christians believe in one God, yet speak of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons, yet one God. It is hardly surprising, then, that preachers approach Trinity Sunday with a certain amount of nervousness.
The congregation would usually be kind enough to affirm whatever attempt I had made that year. Maybe apart from the ice cream.
Looking back, I am no longer convinced any of us were getting particularly close. We were sincere, of course. We genuinely wanted people to understand. I am just no longer sure understanding was ever the point.
Perhaps I am simply more comfortable with mystery now than I once was.
When I was younger, I often felt the need to have answers. I wanted things to fit neatly together. If somebody asked a difficult theological question, I assumed there ought to be a satisfactory explanation waiting somewhere, and I would be frustrated if I didn’t know it.
Life has gradually cured me of that assumption.
Not because I have become less interested in theology. If anything, I am more interested than ever. Rather, I have become increasingly aware of the limits of human understanding.
The Trinity sits precisely at that point, at the edge of what can be understood and the beginning of what can only be contemplated.
