Trinity Sunday

16 Jun

“Love is made up of three unconditional properties in equal measure: Acceptance, Understanding, Appreciation.  Remove any one of the three and the triangle falls apart. Which, by the way, is something highly inadvisable. Think about it — do you really want to live in a world of only two dimensions?  So, for the love of a triangle, please keep love whole.”  ~ Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

I saw this quote several months ago and immediately thought of today: Trinity Sunday. I thought of this because, in many ways, Nazarian is speaking about a trinity of love, a trinity of acceptance, understanding, and appreciation. If any of the three were to be missing, love would fall apart since all three are necessary for love.

There is more to this quote, though.  After all, do we not say that God is Love?  We also say God is a Trinity of Three Persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. I do not think it would take too much of a stretch to put the Three Persons of God to the three components of Nazarian’s love.

God the Father could be seen as “acceptance”, particularly because God is our creator. God accepts all of His people because He created us in His image and likeness.  Why would He reject what He has made?

Then there is God the Son, Jesus Christ. He would easily embody “understanding” because He was born as one of us. He is flesh and blood, like us in all things but sin. God understands His people because of His Son.

That just leaves “appreciation”, the Holy Spirit. God appreciates us more than we will ever know. He appreciates it when we attempt to draw closer to Him. He appreciates it when we try to be more like His Son, Jesus. He appreciates it when we use the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are poured out upon us.

Appreciation, Understanding, and Acceptance are a trinity of love and that Trinity of Love is God Himself: three persons, unique yet one. That is what we celebrate this day. If any of the Persons of God were not present, the triangle of love would fall apart. For the love of our Triune God, keep your love whole so as to reflect His love.

We celebrate a God that loves us unconditionally and challenges us to grow. We celebrate a Triune God that pours Himself out for us and pours His gifts into us. We celebrate a God that never gives up on us, no matter how many times we might give up on ourselves.

FAITH ACTIONDo your best to exemplify all the attributes of God’s love in your life: acceptance, understanding, and appreciation.