The Trinity season is upon us, and at Evensong on Trinity Sunday I preached on the indivisible and co-dependant nature of the Holy Trinity.  But even as my voice echoed down the narrow aisle of St Ivor of the Pump at Bilge, where I was standing in for the Rev. Much-Farthing who is on sabbatical, I wondered at my presumption.  

Every preacher will know that it is quite possible for the mouth to be saying one thing whilst the brain is thinking another.  As St. James wrote, “The tongue is a little member”, and how true that is.  I could hear my words about tri-formity and diversity-in-unity, but my mind was thinking, “What am, I saying?  Do I really believe this?”, and, more to the point, “Do I even understand this?”

The answer, of course, is “No.”  I do not understand the mystery of the Trinity, and I never shall.  Perhaps the best illustration I ever used to try and covey the substance of the doctrine was that of Mr. Judder, his twin brother, and his maiden sister.  I first met these three geriatric residents of Bogworthy village when I was asked to go and lead a Bible Study for the “Bogworthy Runminants”, who used to meet every third Tuesday in the Village Hall.  This was over 18 years ago, and the then vicar, the Rev. Prangfandle, invited me over having heard my maiden sermon in Wenchoster cathedral the previous Sunday.  The topic he had given me was, “The Revelation of Enoch and its relevance to 20th century rural Christianity.”  I have to admit I struggled to pull together what I thought was a reasonable presentation, and after my talk was over I invited questions.  Old Mr. Judder, who must have then been in his late 80’s, stood up.  

“Beggin’ yer pardon, yer Reverence,” he said, “but oi don’t quite be folwin yer reasoning ‘ere.  It be moi understannin that you be saying that this ‘ere book of Enoch be a great ‘fluence upon the New Testament writings.”  

“That’s right,” I answered.  “Many passages in the New Testament can be traced back to this Apocalyptic book.”

“Well,” he drawled, “if that be the case, where be the mention of the Trinity then?”

I was stumped, and I had to admit it.  But then I noticed that Mr. Judder’s siblings, Jacob and Hannah, were seated next to him, and I knew that they all lived an extraordinarily shared life, sleeping the in the same room, eating the same meals, and doing everything together.  And so I directed him to Chapter 48 of the Book, and reminded them that there Enoch speaks of the “Head of Days” and “The Son of Man” and the “Lord of the Spirits”, and, I said, here was Enoch seeing God as Father, Son and Spirit, interdependent, just as the Judders were in their home.  There followed a lengthy discussion over the identification, but in the end old Simon Judder had to admit that Enoch had indeed understood something of the Trinitarian nature of God, and that it was time they were all getting back home as he had to put some lard on the cat’s boil.

And so it is that I can never stand up and preach on Trinity Sunday without thinking of those three siblings, laid to rest many years ago and sleeping now under the Bogworthy sward.  Buried in the same grave, their tombstone speaks of their nature and relations.

Dear reader, pass not by this space,
But pause and read awhile,
For ‘neath this sod lie in this place
Three persons dead and vile.
But in their life they lived as one,
And common was their cause,
And now their earthly life is run,
They bask on heaven’s shores.

Sacristy, enter my sacristy,
See my cotta hanging neatly behind the door!
Sacristy, behold my sacristy!
This is my pride, I'll be your guide, and a lot more!
See that chair, just you sit there, and see my thurible!
Smell the grains, excuse the stains, and straighten your stole!
Sacristy, my little sacristy,
Please come inside, hasten your stride, and don't be a bore!

Tune: "Majesty" Jack W. Hayford

1.         SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
3.         Feast of St. Gregory the Hirsute
4.         Annual Refectory Roach Hunt
7          Wenchoster Cathedral Pilgrimage

8.         THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
9.         Choir School Field Day.  Overcamp Dunes.
12.       St. Barnabas, Apostle.
14.       The Queen’s Official Birthday. 

15.       FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
16.       Diocesan Cricket Competition begins
17.       Badger’s Poke Charity Peal Evening
19.       “Nine Bells” Beer and Cheese Festival
20.       Cottage Hospital Gift Day
21.       Wenchoster Parva Festival of Trebles

22.       FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
24.       Nativity of St. John the Baptist
25.       Mole Smoking Contest – Gusset-cum-Pleat Young Farmers’ Club
27.       Wenchoster Point-to-Point.  (Indoors if wet.)
28.       Thropping Brass Band Concert and Procession

29.       SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY: Petertide Ordinations
30.       SS Peter & Paul, Apostles