Morning Prayer
Trinity Sunday 2025
Today, we celebrate Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is a mystery. It is a mystery that we cannot hurry to solve or seek to understand quickly. It is a mystery that we stay with and return to over and over as it opens up to us. As we seek to understand, study and exploration bring us closer to God, and the closer we are to God, the more we understand the mystery of the Trinity.
Proverbs 8 tells us that Wisdom is in the busiest places; in the highest places where people worship, at the crossroads where travelers and merchants meet to talk and trade, and at the city gates where important town business and trials occur.
Wisdom cries out to us above the noise, longing to be heard. Wisdom is part of the mystery of the Trinity. Wisdom, the unseen, was here, as the Spirit of God, at the beginning of all that is seen. Wisdom rejoices in God’s inhabited world and delights in the human race.
Looking around at the beauty of creation and all that is seen can take our breath away. How much more beautiful is what we cannot see. We cannot see the Holy Spirit, but the breath of God was here, is here, and will always be here as our Advocate, Guide, Counselor, and Helper. Wisdom is distinct from and yet one with the creator God.
Our Creator God is our protector and provider, both Mother and Father. Our Creator God spoke, and the heavens, earth, and all that is came into being. God created us and the world around us and declared all creation good.
We see the goodness of God reflected in his creation in the tiniest insect, the petals of a flower, the bison, the depth of a canyon, the roaring of a waterfall, and the great boulders that rest on the side of a mountain. God’s love poured out into all that we can see. And yet, all that we can see is only a glimpse into the majesty of God.
The Gospel of John begins with “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”
The Word of God, Jesus, was present as the world was formed and came into the world to show us God up close. Jesus, fully God and fully human, is another great mystery. Jesus, the light of the world, came to show us how to live. He is our teacher and our friend. He is the giver of peace, God with us.
Jesus teaches us that sacrificial love produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope never disappoints. In Godly Play, we often say, “There once was a man who said such wonderful things and did such wonderful things that people wondered about him and wanted to get close to him.” As we come close to Jesus, we come close to God. They are distinct from one another and yet one.
Our Creator God, Jesus, our redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, our sustainer, were here before the formation of everything we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Together, they were present during the planning and building of all that is. Such joy is expressed in Proverbs verses 30 and 31: “Then I was beside him, like a master worker,
and I was daily his delight, playing before him always, playing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race”.
And what is our part in the great mystery of the Trinity?
Who are we that Wisdom cries out to us, God delights in us, and Jesus gave his life for us?
We are co-creators. Our lives are part of the Divine dance of the Trinity. If we choose to join in. The Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit share a relationship of mutual love, honor, joy, respect, and self-giving. In this dance, the three distinct persons of the One God have loved one another and been in a relationship with one another from the beginning of time, and there is no end to this Divine love.
Last weekend, as I traveled to Yellowstone with Clay and Lea Spencer, every turn and every stop was an adventure that filled me with awe at the beauty of creation. I do not have the words to describe it. But I hope that my words and your imagination might come close. Close your eyes if it helps.
As I stood on solid ground at the edge of a rocky cliff…not too close to the edge but close enough to see volumes of water pouring down the mountainside between rocks and trees, flowers and shrubs into a river far below at the bottom of The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone as it is called.
I could hear the roar of the water as it raced down the mountain to join the river below. It was loud and soft at the same time, a thunderous roar as I tuned into its power and force. And then a whisper in the background as I opened my eyes to see the rainbow forming in the mist, and my attention shifted to the vibrant colors that danced across the background of lush green trees and shrubs and the beautiful contrasting rocky cliffs.
I closed my eyes once more and took a deep breath. Moisture filled my senses as I smelled green growing things and decaying leaves, and the coolness of the mist danced across my arms as the sun warmed my back. I was deeply in awe.
In Yellowstone, we moved from one incredible sight to another and discovered that Léa could earn a Junior Ranger badge.
She may have felt a little silly as she went through the activities in this workbook, but as she worked through the pages, we all tuned in a little differently to the beauty around us to help answer the questions. We were no longer simply observing our surroundings. We looked deeper into the experience, exploring, wondering, and noticing things we hadn’t before. We thought more deeply about the relationships between the animals, the plants, and even us as cohabitors of this incredible place.
The Jr. Ranger badge was an invitation to participate more deeply in our journey through Yellowstone. When the book was completed, Léa was sworn in as a junior ranger, promising to learn, protect, and preserve Yellowstone and teach others to do the same. What at first seemed a bit silly now felt differently. A commitment to participate in and protect the natural world is a commitment to a relationship.
Our reading in Proverbs 8 stops at verse 31, but if you read further, there is an invitation to listen, learn, and participate in life in a new way.
“And now, my children, listen to me:
Happy are those who keep my ways.
Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
Happy is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life.
This is an invitation to participate more deeply as we move through this journey of life. Our participation is desired. We can join in the delight. Let the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit pour out into all creation as we encounter it. You don’t have to go to Yellowstone to join the conversation of creation. You can encounter the Trinity right where you are. Take a moment to sit in stillness, allow all your senses to take in your surroundings, and breathe deeply. Breathe in the hope that never disappoints. And as you breathe out, let your eyes rest on something with wonder. I wonder about its origin and purpose, and I share in the delight of its presence.
There is much beauty in the world created by love, in love, and for love. How much more beauty is there in what we cannot yet behold with our eyes? May the Spirit of truth fill our senses with delight and the everlasting love of the Triune God.
Glimpses of Grace 
Kathy Rhue Milne
Oh Alana, what a beautiful invitation this is to “encounter the Trinity”! I love that you had us practice a meditation during your sermon and also that you encourage us to continue to practice as we go out into the world. So simple, and so life giving!
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