Praying about the flow of time: Praising the Three in One

Lynne Baab • Tuesday June 10 2025

In the 1990s, I had quite a bit of contact with Unitarian Universalists. My first exposure to UU folks came through the interviews for my 1997 and 1998 books, which were published by The Alban Institute. That publisher marketed to leaders of Christian and Unitarian congregations, so I needed to get opinions and quotations from members of UU churches in addition to my interviews with Christians from various denominations. Those books are Personality Type in Congregations and Embracing Midlife: Congregations as Support Systems.

I also met UU church members through my involvement with the Association for Psychological Type. When I found myself chatting with them at conferences, I asked lots of questions about what was important to them and their congregations. The UU people I interacted with expressed a profound commitment to social justice and welcoming and caring for all people.

I also asked about the patterns of spirituality they engaged in. Some talked about contemplative prayer and mindfulness, and they drew on prayer practices from all the world religions. Some Unitarians, I learned, are humanists and do not believe in God at all, while others do believe in God and respect Jesus, as well as other religious and spiritual traditions. I came away from my interviews and conversations impressed by the character and wisdom I heard. My UU conversation partners and interviewees were smart, interesting, and passionate about values I care about.

These conversations triggered questions for me. Why am I a Christian? Why am I not a Unitarian? Why do I believe in a Trinitarian God rather than one life force or the complete parity of all world religions?

In response to these questions, I found myself thinking about the location of God. When my granddaughter was about 7, I asked her what she believed about God. She responded by saying that God is beyond the stars. Oh, yes, God is lofty and exalted, beyond our imagination or ability to describe. “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).

God is also close to us, especially when we are hurting. “The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. . . . The Lordis near to all who call on him” (from the same psalm—Psalm 145:14, 18). Jesus walked this earth with us and still walks beside us through the Holy Spirit. Also, through the Spirit, Jesus lives inside us. I wrote last week about the way the Holy Spirit leads us into truth and reminds us of Jesus’s words. The Holy Spirit comforts us and advocates for us. All of this happens for us as individuals and for us in community with other believers.

Yes, God is beyond the stars, enthroned in heaven. Yes, Jesus lived in human flesh on this earth. Yes, the Holy Spirit is Jesus still present with us and in us. Our beautiful Trinitarian God is in all three places — far above, beside, and within us individually and communally.

In a few days, on Trinity Sunday, we can praise the Three in One for this component of the Trinity, but of course we have much more to remember as well. The three persons of the Trinity exist in love for each other and invite us into that dance of care, support, admiration, and mutual submission. More than a decade ago, I wrote this in my book, Friending:

“Jesus invites us into the friendship he has with the one he calls Father. We are created in the image of a God who lives in love: the three persons of the Trinity eternally intimate with and devoted to each other. That love spills over to us. We are loved, and we are called to love. We are invited into friendship with this God, and Jesus Christ is the one who makes that friendship possible by dying to reconcile us to God.”

Because God is beyond the stars, we worship God in awe and wonder. Because Jesus walked this earth, we can be friends with him and enter into the love relationship that has existed eternally between the three members of the Trinity. Because the Holy Spirit is Jesus’s presence in us, with us, beside us, beneath us, before us—everywhere we can imagine—we can rely on God for guidance, empowerment, and the ability to love, even in hard situations.

Three in One, One in Three, we praise you that you are everywhere in this universe that you created. We praise you that you are close to us, supporting us when we feel vulnerable and guiding us every day. We praise you for the invitation into your community of love. You cleanse our hearts and give us fresh energy to love those around us every day. God in Three Persons, help us see you, love you, serve you, and faithfully follow you into the places where you have placed us.

Here’s a brief and beautiful Roman Catholic prayer for Trinity Sunday. May we “celebrate life with” our beautiful Triune God.

May the love which unites the persons of the Trinity shape our lives and the lives of all people. We ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son, who celebrates life with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Next week: Ordinary time returns. Illustration by Dave Baab.

Previous posts about the Trinity

Praise to the Trinity in four movements
Celtic Christianity: The Trinity
To Whom do we pray?

If you'd like to learn more about the community within the Trinity, often called the "social Trinity," take a look at this chapter I wrote for an edited book. Scroll down to the section "The Relational Trinity and Human Relationships."

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