Years ago, riding in a taxi in Cairo, the Muslim driver asked me, “Do you believe in three gods?” I’ve often imagined myself back in that taxi, taking another shot at explaining the Holy Trinity. It’s not surprising that Muslims (and many others) have a hard time conceptualizing the Holy Trinity, when we who consider ourselves Trinitarian have a hard time talking about it.
As a worship leader I’ve often wrestled with what to do on Holy Trinity Sunday, which falls on Sunday, May 31 this year. Sure, we have some formulas (Father/Son/Holy Spirit; Creator/Redeemer/Sustainer), we have metaphors (water as liquid, solid, and vapor or one rope with three strands), we have dogma and creeds (the Apostles’, the Nicene, and especially the Athanasian). Perhaps more helpful is a narrative approach, looking at stories within scripture that reveal God in different ‘persons.’ There is also literature and poetry.
Last year, in an attempt to engage the congregation on the Trinity in dynamic and creative ways, we decided to celebrate Holy Trinity Sunday with poetry. Collaborating with a friend who is a retired pastor, we solicited poems from the congregation as well as friends and colleagues. We invited people to write about some dimension of God as Father, Son or Holy Spirit. We especially encouraged the writing of haiku, not only because they are short, but also because they are less intimidating for people not accustomed to writing poetry. We found that haiku could often be both playful and profound. For example, a haiku by Juliet Bongfeldt followed by one by Bill Geertz:
Is it a waltz, or
Do they cha-cha-cha? Come one,
Come all. Join the dance.
Holy Trinity
Dynamic triangle of love
God’s geometry
We ended up using haiku throughout our liturgy. In some places the effect was subtle, as with our Prayer of Confession, also by Bill Geertz, and our Assurance of Pardon, by Jim Michaels:
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God the creator
Embracing loving father
Have mercy on me
God the redeemer
Jesus the gentle Savior
Have mercy on me
God the sustainer
Spirit of the living God
Have mercy on me
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
For our sinful selves
A beloved son given
Redeemed through His grace
Blessings from on High
Father, Son, Holy Spirit
An empty heart filled
A sinner’s reprieve
God’s Son has suffered for us
Prayerfully rejoice!
We found that some of the haiku worked beautifully as a Gospel acclamation, a post-communion prayer, or the Prayer of the Day, such as this one by Barbara Kamens:
PRAYER OF THE DAY
One God – three in one
Why, how, can this ever be?
Love and trust in Him.
Trinity – all three
Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Make us more like Thee
Amen
The sermon consisted primarily of poems which were grouped thematically, read alternately by two people and interspersed with verses from the hymn “Dance of the Trinity.” It was exciting to share the theological reflections of laity as in this poem, also by Barbara Kamens, that alludes to the mystery of Trinity:
I wonder, is it possible
That these three are inseparable?
When He first created man
I wonder if God had a plan
To make us often question whether
One could be, without the other
Let’s not doubt this wondrous mystery
Let’s just accept the Holy Trinity
A teenager, Joanna Holleck, discovered the Holy Spirit’s movement in nature:
Stand
in the middle of the lawn
with one dandelion
in each hand,
face tipped toward
the burning sun
and let the breeze
lift them,
take them away
to a place
you do not yet know.
Let the Holy Spirit
give them the life
they can get in no other way
and remain still:
chin up and eyes closed.
Say a prayer
then open your eyes
and keep them that way,
knowing
that life is
unknown
and trusting that one day
you will see
where God has led them
to new life
and of course
how he carried you along also.
I wrote a narrative poem about encountering the Holy Trinity at Logan Airport. This poem sought in a humorous way to show how the Trinity is experienced not as dogma but in the context of daily life, work, and relationships.
Triune God at Logan Airport
1.
At the airport at 5:45
one can feel the day awakening
still groggy people shuffle through security lines
the fragrance of coffee and breakfast burritos permeates the air like morning fog
gates are unlocked, shops begin to open and the sun rises.
A stewardess in high heels passes resolutely by, a walking metronome
The shoe-shine man is open for business.
It was night and it is day,
everywhere the rhythms of a new day.
Cleveland, Chicago, Charleston, Chatanooga
Jakarta, Shanghai, Melbourne, Monrovia
Departures and arrivals to places near and far,
vast and interconnected this world that God has made.
Kaleidoscope of colors and cultures, topography and faiths
yet each one miraculously in the image of God.
2.
Were Jesus to return today
would it again be to the temple in Jerusalem?
or perhaps this time to Logan Airport?
Would he stand at the gate where the red-eye lands
and kindly say to the travel weary
come and I will give you rest?
Would he linger at the Food Court
with a cup of coffee or chocolate milk
empty chair beside him
an open invitation?
Would he frequent the children’s play area,
shoes cast aside, socks mismatched
laughing, encouraging, maybe even savoring a French Fry?
Would he heal the sick?
Would he carry an old man’s suit case?
Would he bless the cleaning lady
and the shoe-shine man?
Would it cause a commotion
and would the authorities ask him to leave?
3.
It’s still morning
but already the security line is a tangle.
This man’s suit is wrinkled,
and that woman is having a bad hair day.
There’s been a coffee spill
and no one flushed the toilets.
Come, Holy Spirit, enter in.
I see an employee working on the airplane
In heavy boots he plods along
with ear-plugs he shuts out the world.
His once neon-yellow vest now stained with weary dirt and grease
tentatively boasts “Safety Team.”
Come, Holy Spirit, enter in.
As Parthians, Medes, Elamites and Mesopotamians
once gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost
so Indonesians, Australians, residents of Guam and China,
gather at the international terminal
and some can feel God’s Spirit move yet again.
This rainbow of people:
The Indian woman with tattoos
the Caucasian man with multiple piercings
those in baseball caps, sombreros, yamaka and hijab
the girl in flip-flops
the businessman getting his shoes shined
woman pushed in wheel chair, pilot in uniform, the lovers, the loner
the funny looking man in sneakers, shorts, shirt, tie and jacket
the young women who look like fashion models
the toddler who just gave me a mischievous smile
even the tourist with the fake-looking green plastic sunglasses
All of them and even me
A temple for the Holy Spirit.
Come to the airport.
Come to Logan, to Terminal 2, Gate 21C
come and behold the triune god
who is hidden, mysterious, and yet in plain view,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
waiting with me for United Airlines flight 1292 to Chicago.
All poems used in the liturgy or sermon were anonymous, so as to keep the focus on worship. However, copies of poems were hung on the walls of the narthex so people could read them again and see who wrote them. Ten people wrote poems; while not overwhelming it was enough participation and diversity to create a lively service. One of the highlights was the witness to the presence of the divine in such daily activities as gardening or clamming on the Cape Cod flats as seen in these haiku by Jim Michaels:
The red-tailed hawk soars
A pole bean seeks the heavens
God’s spirit fills me.
Clamming on the flats
Heart in rhythm with the rake
God’s world linked with man
In this year’s celebration at least, there was nothing dogmatic about the Trinity. Instead we sought to use poems as a dance of words to give some expression to the beauty, mystery, and wonder that is our triune God. Wrote Jim Michaels:
Voices raised in song
Praise to God the three-in-one
Angelic trumpets.
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Michael E. Belongie says
Christian,
I asked a contemplative author and bishop emeritus to offer
a trinitarian poem for this Trinity Sunday. As I was ready to
check on my own- chime and Bishop Robert Morneau
a signal he had sent one- this site intercepts the Paraclete,
Creator, and Word, We’re One and Three in you
and all.
Our Universe
Sounds
words
thoughts
returned
in
reverence.
Michael Belongie
Michael E. Belongie says
January 11, 2020
Christian-
I never heard back from you.
Our Universe
sounds
words
thoughts
returned
i
reverence.
-Michael Belongie
Christian Holleck says
Hi Michael,
Thank you for your poetic response and reflection.
I obviously haven’t been back to this site for a long time but have enjoyed reading the responses I now find.
blessings, Christian
Lorraine Gordon says
Christian, I’m writing to you in response to just having discovered this website and your experiment combining an appreciation for the Trinity with writing poetry. I am in awe.
I am currently writing the text for a podcast over THE DIVINE DANCE, a book about the Trinity by Richard Rohr, a Franciscan currently residing in Albuquerque and who oversees the Center for Action and Contemplation. So much of what is found in these poems – especially the first haiku and the longer piece about Logan Airport (have you read Whitman? very evocative of his colorful catalogues in SONG OF MYSELF) – resonates with Rohr’s appreciation of the inter-relatedness of the Trinitarian model.
Thank you for posting sharing these poetic meditations.
Christian Holleck says
Lorraine,
Thank you. I receive and appreciate some of Richard Rohr’s meditations and prayers. I will look up the Whitman. One of the hymns I love in our Lutheran hymnal that really brings out the inter-relatedness of the trinity is “Dance of the Trinity.” Christian