Three is a magic number

Personal Photo: Taken by Shannon Deppen in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Last weekend was Trinity Weekend, where we celebrate the three persons of God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My brother, Jason, actually came up with the base idea for this week, mentioning the importance of all three persons and how each person of God is equally holy and equally almighty. The concept of the Trinity can be really difficult to understand. How can all three be God, how can they all be the same thing, at the same time, but entirely separate persons? I agree that this can be a slippery subject, and it is meant to challenge our humanity.

When I was growing up, my mom and dad always used the analogy of water to help us understand the Trinity. Water, the components being hydrogen and oxygen, can be in three different forms: liquid water, ice, and water vapor/steam. All three are made of the same thing, can exist in the world at the same time, but are entirely different. This really helped me. Yes, I still struggle to comprehend the Trinity and how they are all God, with the same amount of power and authority, but also entirely different, but thinking of how water can work in the same way can help me understand it a bit more.

Speaking of growing up, did you ever watch Schoolhouse rock as a kid? Schoolhouse Rock taught me the Preamble, about bills becoming laws, numerous jazzy songs, and of course about math. The company created songs and short videos for each number and throughout the song, explored the different multiples of said number. If you haven't ever seen an episode of Schoolhouse Rock, it is worth the Google search just to learn about zero (he's my hero!) and the other numbers. First aired on January 6, 1973, Schoolhouse Rock introduced their song about multiples of three, singing about how three is a magic number, hence the title of this article. One of the points made in their song about the number three, is that it takes three legs to make a tripod. While this is true, it also takes three legs to make a table. To make a table stand, you need three legs. Two won't work, and while four legs also hold a table, you can take one away and the table would still stand. In this way, we can relate our magical number three to the Trinity.

When we think about the Trinity being the three vital legs to holding up a table, we can consider how each leg needs to be equal in strength, length, size in order to create a flat surface for the top to rest on. If one is more powerful than another, the balance of the table is thrown off. If one is too weak, it will break under the pressure put on the tabletop and it will give out. God is this way. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit need to be of equal power and strength in order to provide a perfect balance.

Speaking of balance, my dad brought up how much we tend to focus on the Father and on the Son. We spend so much time talking about these two persons of God that often we can find ourselves dismissing the Holy Spirit. With my dad's mentioning of this, we decided this could be a perfect opportunity to look towards the Holy Spirit and how He works in our lives. The Holy Spirit is just as important as the other two persons of God, but we usually do not talk about how He shows up for us and with us.

Have you ever found yourself alone and forced to find peace with it? Sure, you could call up a couple buddies and spend the evening with them, but you just don't feel like it. Maybe no one can meet you at the time you are available. Maybe you are forced to do something new and unfamiliar on your own. You have to drive yourself, have to eat your meals alone, have to sit by yourself. Or maybe you aren't alone, but you feel like you are. Ever been in a room full of people that you just don't feel like you can be yourself with? Me too. I am someone who is better off in small settings, and it takes awhile for me to really be able to be myself with others. I often find myself alone and forced to make peace with that aloneness. Notice how I don't say lonely? Sure, we have all felt lonely (check out my article on loneliness, entitled "Quarter!"), but this is not the same thing. We are alone, but not lonely. The reason we are not lonely is because the Holy Spirit has taken to walking astride with us during these moments.

I can give you an example. After dorming my freshman year of college, I had a one bedroom apartment on the fourth floor of a building on the engineering campus. Now, I am not an engineer, meaning I had to take the bus every day to central campus and walk to my classes. None of my friends lived on north campus, none of my classmates took the bus, and I lived alone. I loved my college time, not because I lived the stereotypical "college experience," but because I made my college experience my own. I found peace in my aloneness in college.

Now, don't get me wrong, I went through many, many tissues saying goodbye on weekends to my family and to Clay, just to climb into my car and drive off by myself to pull into a cold parking garage and climb the too-many steps up to the top floor. Then I'd use my key and open the door to a dark and empty and cold apartment. No one needed me in that apartment, and I said goodbye for the week to the people that I needed. They were hard moments, I cried a lot, and I had to do it. No one could do it for me and no one could do it with me. Except the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit could climb into my passenger seat, could help me watch for traffic on the highway, could walk with me when I took each step. He made these obstacles a bit easier to overcome.

More than in the hard moments, the Holy Spirit was the reason that I found peace in my aloneness. I went through difficult times, but I had far more moments that were not entirely hard because of the sorrow that accompanied them, but because they were new. I had to experience so many things that I had no idea how to handle. I'll tell you about a few examples. My first ever college class was Italian 101. My professor could barely speak English, I knew no one on college campus, and I had no idea how to get to the classroom. Talk about intimidating. I had to ride the bus for the first time and did not know which bus to get on, which stop to get off at, and where to stand. I had to ask the bus driver for help, I got lost, I was late more than once. In a more casual moment, I went shopping on my own and I bought a polaroid camera. It was fall time in Ann Arbor and the trees on central campus were in full color. I walked to the center of campus and took photos by myself. Another time, I had a small break in between classes and the winter harshness had begun to recede, so I packed myself a salad and ate outside, alone on a bench in the cool springtime. None of my friends were with me, but the Holy Spirit was. He guided me to the right classroom, made sure He sat with me and encouraged me to say hi to some people who became really close friends of mine. He gave me the courage to ask the bus driver for help, provided me with the resources to learn from my mistakes, and He rode with me every single day, from the first time I climbed onto the bus to the last time I hopped off and thanked the driver. He helped me aim my new camera at the most beautiful tree, bursting in almost neon orange. He helped me choose the right Bible verse to write at the bottom of the photograph. He sat with me while I ate lunch and pointed out the warmth on the breeze and the freshness of my food. He gave me the time to take my time with Him. I am so grateful for the Holy Spirit and the ways in which He helped me take the next step in life.

The Holy Spirit showed up for me and He showed up with me. I was never lonely when I appreciated His company. The Holy Spirit made the moments that could have been lonely into memories that I embraced and now cherish as times that I learned and grew. I have learned that the Holy Spirit harbors Himself in the small and quiet places. He does not shout, He does not use force, but instead we find Him in more places the more that we pay attention to ourselves, to others, and the beautiful world that God created for us. He can be the birds outside the window, He can be voice telling you to make the right decision, He can be our closest friend. The most common place that we can find the Holy Spirit is in our souls. Isaiah 11:2 says that "The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD." He speaks to us through our conscience, not only keeping us company, but by being a guiding force for us as we navigate our own journeys. He reminds us, through our conscience, what is right, what is wrong, and how to be a better child of God. John 14:26 states "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." The more we think about it, the more places we can see the Holy Spirit.

I shared a lot of personal experiences in this article, and I really hope that you can relate to some of them. I think we all have our own moments of aloneness that we need to find peace with and I truly believe that the peace we feel in these times is because we become aware of the Holy Spirit. After a bit, we find ourselves relying on Him to be with us and we worry less, stress less, and trust Him to guide us as He walks alongside us. In this way, we can see how we become better children of God when we make ourselves aware of the Holy Spirit. We can invite Him to walk closer to us and He will guide us to the light of God every single time.

With Trinity weekend being last weekend, I think it is important to recognize how important each person of God is. The table cannot stand without the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each of them is equally almighty and considering how much we focus on the Father and the Son, it can be quite beneficial for us to make sure we are paying attention to the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" The Holy Spirit is a gift to us and we can appreciate the gift of His presence in our lives, in our hearts, in our minds, by listening to His guidance, searching for Him dwelling around us and within us, and by recognizing the moments when we are peaceful because we are trusting in Him.