Sunday, our pastor offered a challenge. I’m going to extend it here.

Sunday was Trinity Sunday. Most Christians are Trinitarians — believers in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit — or at least they say they are. The reality is who understands the Trinity?

It’s a mystery of faith … like the Incarnation or Atonement or Creation. We have Scripture to help give us a glimpse of what we believe. But it does little to explain how we believe or why we believe. Certainly, the latter can be explained by the circular thought — we believe because we believe. To an extent, Christianity is based on that same reasoning.

Pastor Steve asked when we first believed in the Trinity. Most traced it back to Sunday school days. But when he twisted the question to how, the answers quieted. Most said because they were taught about the Trinity, reinforced by hymns. No one could explain it, although I suspect we all have a reasoning mechanism to make something mysterious seem relevant.

Pastor Steve reduced the connection to the analogy of making syrup. You start with water, sugar and flavoring — three distinct and separate entities. But when you mix them together, they are forever joined. You can’t distill pure water, or white sugar or even just the flavoring after they are joined.

It’s a good analogy, but for the Trinity to make sense in my mind, I equate it to a person. Although I don’t profess to be god — I was a husband and am a father and a boss. One person. Three distinct roles. Three distinct manifestations. In my role as a husband, I still was a father and a boss. In my role as a father, I remained a husband and boss. As a boss, I was still a husband and father.

I see the godhead similarly. God as Father is the foundation. God as Son is the shepherd guiding the flock. God as Spirit is the energy directing our daily walk. You can’t have one without the others. They’re intertwined.

That’s my take. What about you? What comes to mind when you think about the Trinity? Do you even think about it? Or are you comfortable just accepting it as a mystery of faith?

I would love to hear and share your take.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.