Trinity Sunday

I was a naughty boy. I just have to admit that as lively young boys go I was above average naughty. Dreadful show off. Over active and very over noisy - especially when showing off to visitors. On such a day my very proper Aunt Maria came to visit. The original grand dame, the dowager aunt of all time. I was at my worst, so after a while I was not surprised to hear her say, "Oh Margaret, how unlike the home life of our dear queen." I was shattered. I knew that I was being compared to the two princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, and being found very wanting. I gave my mother a stricken look of apology, for I knew that I had really let her down.

But then, as Mother looked at me, not an angry look as I deserved, but a sort of twinkling look - she WINKED at me. It stopped me in my tracks. It was the signal of forgiveness for a not really worthy naughty boy.

Later that day we were able to talk about the incident, and now I half expected to hear what my punishment would be for a serious breach of the family code. But when I asked how I had managed to avoid it, my mother said - ‘Oh I knew you were sorry.

Now, nearly 70 years later, it still stands brightly in my mind as one of my first conscious experiences of an awareness of guilt and of forgiveness in a simultaneous sort of way. But it is not the only time of course. When nearing the end of my primary school years I won a scholarship to a rather desirable High School. For some reason or other [can't remember how] I provoked my teacher who to my surprise began to pour scorn on my efforts. This triggered my [then] terrible temper. In a split moment of time I had launched myself out from my back seat - stormed up to the front and HIT her as hard as I could. Oh dear. Serious trouble this time. To my huge surprise the blame fell on the young teacher, who was severely cautioned. But it scared me to discover what impulsive actions I could produce. I was learning about a dreadful temper that had to be controlled.

Now it is Trinity Sunday and here am I telling you stories about school days and the dreadful failings of young boys. // Telling you stories // about a young person making discoveries // about AWARENESS OF GUILT and the experience of forgiveness.

Another way of saying it might be, that I am reminding you of the fact that there are some established standards of behaviour that we are expected to keep. There is a sort of code of these standards that is carved into our sub conscious and for various reasons we equate the keeping of these standards or rules with God and who God is.

The Jewish tribes certainly thought this way. God was a righteous God. His rules were there to be obeyed by all. If they were not - there was punishment deserved. So it makes sense that the Jews also thought that they had to be "forgiven" to ever dare come to God again. This was essential - for how terrible to live without that forgiveness.

Understandable then, for the Christians to think in this way too. That Jesus was the Son of God who had been sent to bring God's forgiveness to His people. Almost all our early theology was about that - and remains so to this day. And so this is how "The Trinity" gets to be personalised as

1. A rule keeping Father - slightly stern/ expecting standards kept

2. A Son who brings God's forgiveness - pays the price,

3. A Spirit who helps to keep the believers going.

This is how things can be put when we struggle with terms and definitions and doctrines - that we do not quite understand.

There is a fundamental rule in the art of "Adult education" - it is that you cannot TEACH an adult anything !!! But you can help them to DISCOVER.

So ------- I tell my slightly revealing stories of childhood - knowing perfectly well that all of you had a childhood as well. Knowing that with luck I am triggering some of your memories of where your first awareness of the idea of "standards" came to you. This does not have to be connected to "faith" - that will have come later -

In other words - if we forget all about the existing Titles but identify the realities that we have held, first in our awareness and then gradually into our sense of the fabric of the way our human life is structured = we would probably all agree that - as a result of our own experience of life - we can identify in OURSELVES and in our groups

There are things that are just GIVEN - -- ‘up againstness' including the basic rules or expectations of community.

There are certain interpersonal RELATIONSHIPS that we can only identify as LOVE. These come in many forms with many qualities.

There is a very real sense or wonderful awareness which works within us to reveal/ connect us into what we can only describe as "God within us".

We have a strong awareness that these things come to us from beyond our self

SO - a threefold set of descriptions of the way our life is - and how we ‘bump up' against it.