Trinity Sunday
June 19, 2011

What's in a Name?
by Tom Cox

No more than God who is Father, Son and Spirit, it seems that most of
us have more than one name: our official name of baptism of course and
less official ones. We call them "nicknames"- some are ordinary,
others amusing, more are insulting. But even if we  have 1,2,3 or even
6 names- it's still the same person. So the Trinity Sunday doctrine of
One God in three persons shouldn't come as too much of a stretch.
Maybe for a change this Sunday we could look more at how God names us
rather than how we name God.

How does God name you and me? When we turn to people and say, "What
are you?" or even "who are you?" We expect them to tell us what they
do, not what they are: "I'm a teacher", "I'm a carpenter," and so
forth. But if someone were to answer "I am a human being, a thinker, a
lover, a child of God," we would be surprised, perhaps even
frightened. So many people in the teeth of economic downturns and
losing jobs, have had to find out who they are, when their job, their
function is lost.

We do the same to God all time, thinking & speaking of God, solely in
terms of functions. Because functions define what is "useful."  When
we treat people as useful we are on dangerous ground. We lose sight of
the whole person.

So to get back to the question… how does God name you and me? Well,
the first name God gives each of us is child: son or daughter. We were
in the mind and heart of God when we were knit together in our
mother's womb. He has always been for us a father, slow to anger, rich
in mercy.

The second name God gives us is sister or brother. What could be more
equal? Well… Jesus is more an elder brother, willing to lay down his
life for us, but one of us, "a part" of us and just a little "apart"
from us as the Son of God.

The third name God gives us is the most beautiful, exalted and
gorgeous name of all. He calls us ….beloved. The heart is the seat of
passion. Tell God what you really feel passionate about, tell about
those you most love-- love in the deepest, most secret part of your
heart. Tell what you are willing to die for-- and what you are hoping
to live for. And I will tell you about the Spirit.

The Trinity is a mystery all right, but it's a mystery about us too, a
mystery of love and our quest for it as a child, a brother or sister
and as the beloved of God who is Father, Son and Spirit.

(Comments to Tom at tomascox@eircom.net )