Castings: May 29, 2026

Trinity Sunday

Fredrick Buechner writes: The Trinity is…a way of saying something about God and God’s inner nature; that is, God does not need the creation in order to have something to love, because within God’s being love happens. Creation grows out of God’s love. So when we say God is love, it is not just a descriptor, it’s a verb, it’s an action. The nature, the action, the being of God is love. Which means, as we are created in the image and likeness of God, that we too are hardwired to be love, to have love happen within our being. All of creation sings God’s love…and we do too.

What are we to make of the Trinity? One of my favorite, if not my favorite, icons of all time is Rublev’s “The Holy Trinity” which has three figures sitting around a table with a chalice or cup in the center. It recalls that moment in Genesis where three visitors come to Abraham and Sarah by the Oaks of Mamre. Abraham and Sarah rush to show them hospitality, and then learn the unbelievable miracle that Sarah is to have a child in her old age. Some say the images in the icon are angels, others say it is the Holy Trinity. Either way, it is an invitation into something beyond ourselves. If you sit with the icon long enough, you will realize that there is another place at the table, waiting for you. It is an invitation into community, an invitation to be in relationship with The Holy. At its heart, this is what the Trinity offers us—an invitation into community, an invitation into the heart of God. The Trinity points to the truth that God is here. God is alive and at work, moving and dancing in our world. And that we are always, always invited to partner in that work, that movement. Our hope and joy is to live into that mystic sweet communion and dance of love.