The Secret of Life, The Reverend David R. Williams, Trinity Sunday--Year C--June 3, 2007

Eternal and glorious God, you dwell in a high and holy place, yet draw us near in your beloved Son; we humble ourselves before you and pray that we may know your loving presence, Creator, Redeemer and life-giver, our one true God forever.  Amen.
 
Trinity Sunday. This Sunday may offer great entertainment in the pews as you realize your Rector’s struggle with the most complicated of all theological concepts, The Trinity.  Simply put, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 
 
You may recall that last year I quoted writer and theologian Dorothy Sayers’s comments on the Creed of St. Athanasius, a fourth century explanation of the Trinity:
 
“The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible and the whole darn thing incomprehensible.”
 
If you do not believe Dorothy Sayers, or wish to explore more for yourself, you may turn to page 864 of your Book of Common Prayer book. A few seconds with this creed will convince you of the challenging nature of the Holy Trinity. 
 
“Oh Lord, our Governor, how exalted is your Name in the entire world,” begins Psalm 8 today. 
 
The psalm is an ancient poetic voice speaking of the same Trinitarian God of our faith and worship in this twenty-first century.
 
“What is a person,” the psalmist asks, “that you, Lord, should be mindful of him?”
 
The God who may seem distant and obscure is, according to the psalmist, ever mindful of each one of us.  
 
“You, God have made humanity but little lower than the angels.  You adorn humanity with glory and honor.”
 
We, God’s humanity, a little lower than the angels! Fathom that! God sees us as quite important!  God is mindful, caring, loving and involved—virtually a part of our very being.
 
Oh God, our governor, how exalted is your name. 
 
Mindfulness for God’s people—His creatures a “little lower than the angels.” Let’s look at this Trinitarian God.  
 
A current writer speaks of “mindfulness:”
 
“Mindfulness is a divine attribute that has received little theological attention.  Perhaps this is because it is so easily absorbed in the larger category of love.  Mindfulness is love that resists distraction. It is a staunch refusal to fall into absentmindedness.  Mindfulness is focused, sustained attention toward the Beloved.  In this way, mindfulness seems less tied to the cognitive functions of the mind and closer to what we call an act of will.  Mindfulness is choosing to cherish and then choosing – again and again – never to back away from that initial decision.  Devoted spouses, dedicated friends, caring parents are all mindful of the ones they love.” 
 
Above all else, as the Psalm says, God is mindful of humanity.
 
Alice, a counselor at a camp for terminally ill children, discovers an example of divine mindfulness in a letter to one of the campers.   
 
Alice befriends one child, a severely disabled girl known as Lou.  Lou, terminally sick with an unusual and virulent disease, is courageous, and optimistic.  One day while Lou is absorbed in a game of “Duck, Duck, Goose,” Alice spots a letter that Lou’s parents have written to their sick child.  Alice cannot resist reading the first few lines:
 
“If God had given us all the children in the world to choose from, Lou, we would only have chosen you,” the letter says.  
 
Alice passes the note to a fellow counselor, whispering breathlessly, “Quick. Read this. It’s the secret of life.”
 
“If God had given us all the children in the world to choose from, we would only have chosen you,” write the parents of a terminally ill child.
 
“The secret of life,” Alice, the counselor says. 
 
A parent’s unconditional love for an ill, disabled daughter.  A sensitive counselor’s heedful wisdom.
 
The Jesus of the Trinity--the Son-- is always mindful of others.  Jesus is the divine incarnation of God’s mindfulness. Jesus notices those who are forgotten.  Jesus cherishes those who are despised.  In the mist of a crowd pulsing all around him, Jesus notices the touch of a despairing woman who merely grazes the hem of his garment. On the cross, Jesus notices and makes room in his heart for the penitent thief.
 
 
As children of God “a little lower than the angels” we are called to be mindful of one another.  This call becomes our choice, over and over again.
 
“God puts at the feet of humanity all sheep and oxen, even the wild beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea,” the psalm says.  
 
When we gather in this sacred place week after week to worship a Trinitarian God, we are humbled by the revelation of God’s focused love for each of us.  We hear the story of God, we offer our prayers and we accept with humility the sacraments of His blessed presence.  The thread woven through all the colors of our worship is music…music from perhaps piano or harpsichord, trumpet or other instruments such as last week’s flute...while our standard is the blessed music through the pipes of this incredible organ. The music of our Sunday mornings or afternoon Evensong or evening Compline may offer clarity of a Trinitarian, loving God beyond any attempts at words from the pulpit.

Music transcends words, moves us, and makes real the presence of God. 
 
This day of Holy Trinity is extra special as we introduce Holy Comforter’s newest servant of God’s ministry: Laurie Ryan, Minister of Music.  We welcome her from the deep southland of Huntsville, Alabama.  But do not be surprised.  She does not talk like she is from Alabama.  Her journey with church music has been long and enriched. 
 
Laurie’s guidance of our choirs and her skill on the organ will no doubt enlighten our own journeys to the Trinitarian God.
 
We welcome you, Laurie Ryan to this parish family.   
 
God’s mindfulness--God’s wisdom, God’s beloved Son living, dying, being raised to glory-- the Spirit being set free to live in our hearts--an organ voluntary played by Laurie Ryan--this is Trinity. As the nature of God, the Trinity is elusive. God is.  God chooses us.  God is mindful of each and every one of us. 
 
“If God had given us all the children in the world to choose from, we would have chosen you, Lou.”
 
Quickly. Read it. This is the Secret of Life.  
 
Amen.