There is a joke amongst clergy that the curate or assistant clergy often end up preaching on Trinity Sunday because it’s the one the rector doesn’t want to do. And, quite frankly, I can also understand why the congregation might be tempted to skip it because even I don’t think I could bear hearing one more time how the Trinity is like an egg, or like the sun, or like a family.

The problem with talking about the Trinity is that allegory can slip very easily into cliche, – or worse, heresy – even with the best of intentions. And alternate language to invoke the Trinity can do the same. So then one might be tempted to resort to throwing one’s hands in the air and saying, ‘Well, it’s a mystery!’

Read more

When I was a little boy, there was a party game that I really enjoyed. I forget its name, but it involved a group of children sitting in a large circle. One of them was designated as “it” and they had to whisper a message into the ear of their neighbour. It had to be a full sentence or a couple of phrases. The neighbour had to pass on what they heard (or thought that they had heard!) and so on round the circle. Then the final person had to say aloud what they had heard. It was always amazing to see how the message had been distorted – words mis-heard or forgotten or guessed at wrongly. The final result could be very amusing.

Read more