When I gave birth to my first child, I had a profound sense of the presence of God. When she was first placed in my arms, I couldn’t really separate my daughter from myself, and I couldn’t separate the two of us from the presence that I identified as God. It was an intense feeling. It was an experience that transcended myself, and yet there has never been an adequate way of conveying to another person what I felt or how I “knew” that the presence I felt was divine.
At another moment in my life, when I was at prayer, I felt myself enveloped by an invisible light, a presence that was comforting yet mysterious. While still enveloped in that light the phone started ringing and I reluctantly went to answer it. I was told that my grandmother had died, and I remember feeling a sense of wonder rather than sorrow as I “knew” that she was enveloped by the same presence that I had just experienced. She was with God.
Once when I was visiting the Oregon Coast, I had the opportunity to explore the remnant of an old growth forest. The place was not far off of highway 101 and yet within a few moments the rest of the world was overshadowed by the overpowering presence of the sacred, the divine within the ancient forest. As I looked upward toward the tree canopy so far overhead, I ‘knew” that God was there.
When I had the privilege of being a Eucharistic Minister there were several times when I felt a presence deeper than the person in front of me. Once, a young man who was a stranger to the parish community came forward. As I reached out to give him the Eucharist I looked into his eyes and for a moment I was overcome with the knowledge that God was looking back at me through the man’s eyes.
I realize that none of the experiences that I have related are definitive proof of the presence of God in the world, and yet these experiences and others like them are what sustain my belief in the God who is with us. As a graduate student I took Systematic Theology where we spent time doing mental gymnastics regarding doctrine and belief and all things religious. I wrote a paper on the Holy Trinity. My conclusion was that we humans encounter God in diverse ways. We meet God in nature, and why not, for we say that God is the Creator. We meet God in other people, as we should, since we say that God became human and dwelt among us. We encounter God in the mysterious events of our lives, a gift of the Holy Spirit sent to empower us as we strive to do what is right.
This Sunday the church celebrates the Most Holy Trinity. The readings come from Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-15; and John 16: 12-15. They speak of the aspects of God that we have come to know as the Trinity.
Religious philosophers and theologians spent years considering the ways that humans have come to know God and they developed the doctrine of the Trinity, the three-in-one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer – or however you might choose to name the three who are really one. Generally speaking, the doctrine of the Trinity was given in order to counter attacks from non-Christian Jews who believed that Christians were polytheists. This was a problem within the first groups of believers since many were Jews raised with an absolute belief in monotheism. And yet, the Christian Jews had experienced Jesus as Divine and had received the Holy Spirit – also Divine. The three-in-one doctrine was a way to name the mystery of God who could be experienced in various ways, and it is a doctrine that has served the religious community well for generations – as long as we don’t get too intent on explanations.
Mystery is mystery.
A couple of weeks ago I expressed concern that there were not enough voices in the church calling for reasonable gun control, especially from the Bishops since the USCCB has created a document that offers reasonable steps to be taken. Today I was pleased to read about Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller who leads the Archdiocese of San Antonio which includes the city of Uvalde in Texas. Archbishop Garcia-Siller has stepped outside the local culture to call for gun control. He said recently on MSNBC that ““We have made guns an idol in this country.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/11/us/uvalde-archbishop-gun-reform.html) His comment is a reminder that there are other gods or “idols” in America – gods that demand attention, unwavering allegiance, sacrifice, and who want, or need, to be appeased. How do we distinguish these gods from the three-in-one mystery that we have proclaimed to be the one God of all?
I certainly cannot give you a definitive answer – we are talking about mystery here. What I can say is that many good people have taken the time to write down their experiences of the Divine, or they have related their experiences to others who wrote them down at a later date. We call some of these people saints because of the ways that they responded to their experience of the Divine. These experiences speak of connection, peace, trust, beauty, and unconditional love. The responses to these experiences reflect more of the same. Love generates love.
The idols, or other gods, of America demand much but give back little; the gun god demands that worshippers overlook carnage and the massacre of innocents; the wealth god demands that people turn away from the plight of the poor; the power gods expect that people will ignore the oppressed. These gods have many temples and the cost to appease them is high.
And then there is the three-in-one, the Holy Trinity, the God that invites rather than demands, and loves without expecting a return. We can read about this God in the Bible, in the millions of pages of doctrinal studies and lessons that have been given, but study never helps us to really know anyone – let alone the God of all. To know God, we must experience God – and we must not be afraid to name what we experience.
For myself I find that I encounter God most often when I am least expecting to. Often, I realize what happened after the fact! We cannot demand or expect that God will provide us with “proof” – but when it happens you will know even if you cannot convey it to others.
Pray always - with an open heart. Love others – everyone. Remember we are all connected, and remember to rejoice when moments of revelation arise!