St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Three in one and one in three

They say that St Patrick used the shamrock to explain the doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish: how God is one God but three persons.

“Is it one leaf or three?” he would ask them, holding up a leaf.

“Both,” they would reply.

“It’s the same with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: they are both one and three,” he would say.

I must confess, stubborn Lancastrian that I am, that I don’t really get the point of what he was trying to say. I find another illustration* much more helpful.

Imagine I wanted to write a book all about Eccleshill. Of course it would have the village, the Mechanics Institute, the Library, the schools and the church all in it, and so of course it would have the vicars in too. So as not to defame the living, I’d make up the characters - but one of them would be me, myself, living in the vicarage and doing all the things that vicars do. I’d be both out here writing the book and in there living in it as one of the characters, and yet I’m the same person. Just like God is the Father writing the story of planet Earth, but he is also Jesus the Son living on the Earth as a man at a particular point in its history.

And what about the Holy Spirit? Well, in my book I would try to make the characters all different - they would each have their own personality and temperament, with varied abilities and jobs. And yet, I would find that some of the people in the book were quite like me in various different ways: some of them would be interested in music, some would like walks in the countryside, some would watch CSI on television, some would like maths puzzles and science fiction and so on. In fact, a bit of my personality would be in each of them. Just like God makes us all different, and yet we all express something of God in our own natures. There’s a bit of God’s personality living in each of us - his Holy Spirit. And we each can be a bit more like him if we want.

This month we think about the Trinity. God looks after us all, writing the story of our world. He came down as a character, and a bit of him lives in each of us. And we can get closer to him. Come along and explore how.

John Hartley

* In "A severe mercy" by Sheldon Vanauken.

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. June 2009, Page 1.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (June 2009) Trinity, Prayer, Question, Song, Chorltons. Other letters from the vicar.	Three in one and one in three They say that St Patrick used the shamrock to explain the doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish: how God is one God but three persons. “Is it one leaf or three?” he would ask them, holding up a leaf. “Both,” they would reply. “It’s the same with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: they are both one and three,” he would say. I must confess, stubborn Lancastrian that I am, that I don’t really get the point of what he was trying to say. I find another illustration* much more helpful. Imagine I wanted to write a book all about Eccleshill. Of course it would have the village, the Mechanics Institute, the Library, the schools and the church all in it, and so of course it would have the vicars in too. So as not to defame the living, I’d make up the characters - but one of them would be me, myself, living in the vicarage and doing all the things that vicars do. I’d be both out here writing the book and in there living in it as one of the characters, and yet I’m the same person. Just like God is the Father writing the story of planet Earth, but he is also Jesus the Son living on the Earth as a man at a particular point in its history. And what about the Holy Spirit? Well, in my book I would try to make the characters all different - they would each have their own personality and temperament, with varied abilities and jobs. And yet, I would find that some of the people in the book were quite like me in various different ways: some of them would be interested in music, some would like walks in the countryside, some would watch CSI on television, some would like maths puzzles and science fiction and so on. In fact, a bit of my personality would be in each of them. Just like God makes us all different, and yet we all express something of God in our own natures. There’s a bit of God’s personality living in each of us - his Holy Spirit. And we each can be a bit more like him if we want. This month we think about the Trinity. God looks after us all, writing the story of our world. He came down as a character, and a bit of him lives in each of us. And we can get closer to him. Come along and explore how. John Hartley * In "A severe mercy" by Sheldon Vanauken.
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