Genesis 1:1-2

Stop.

Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Reflect on God’s presence in your life since it’s very beginning. Rest in this peace for a few moments.

Listen.

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. – Genesis 1:1-2

Reflect.

This coming Sunday, the church celebrates Holy Trinity Sunday. On this day, we recognize and rejoice that God has been made known to us as three-in-one and one-in-three. However, this isn’t something that scripture helps us understand very well. While we can point to different places where God is known to us as Savior or Spirit, for instance, it’s hard to find a time where we see all three.

One typical reading for Holy Trinity Sunday is this passage from Genesis 1. We often point to creation as one of the key acts of God made known as the Father, who some will call Creator. If each person of the Trinity has a key act, the key act of the Father is creation.

However, the word translated here as “wind” to describe what sweeps over the surface of the water gives us a picture of God’s triune nature. The word in Hebrew also means “breath” or “spirit”. This reminds us that God never works in isolation. In other words, God the Father isn’t responsible solely for creation, or God the Son for salvation, or God the Spirit for sanctification. God as Trinity works together in all these ways even as we know God more specifically in one role or another at different times.

Confusing? Absolutely. Believers have spent their whole lives trying to sort out the mystery of the Trinity. Still, we rejoice that God’s power can be known to us in many ways.

Pray.

I thank you, God, that you were at work in creation and continue to work today. Through the power of your Spirit, create new and powerful things in me and my church today. Amen.

Carry On.

Think of or visit one place in creation that feels most holy to you. What does it mean to you that God has made this place? How do you know more about God because of this place?