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Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday, and as I got ready for this Substack live session today I was embraced by the awe of knowing that the Trinitarian image of God is everywhere present in our world.
Every element on the periodic table occurs in three forms - gas, liquid and solid. I love to think about this especially with with that basic element - water. Pour yourself a glass of water, add a few ice cubes. Boil a kettle of water and watch the steam rise from the spout. 1 element, three forms.
And if we look down into the atomic level we see this same trinitarian nature reflected - a nucleus with protons and neutrons, around which the electrons revolve.
Wow, wow and wow I think. The very nature of God is woven into our universe in so many ways.
We see it in the garden too. I looked for flowers and leaves with a tripartite structure that reflected the three in one nature of the Trinity – God is One in three – Creator, Son and Holy Spirit. I suggest you join me on the journey. If you don’t have a garden, walk the neighbourhood or look for other objects that reflect the triune God. It is a great deal of fun and emphasizes for me yet again how much we miss out on when we don’t know how to connect the glory of creation to the story of our faith.
The most familiar trinitarian symbol is the Irish shamrock, Oxalis acetosella, with its three-lobed leaves, which St. Patrick supposedly pointed out to the Irish as a symbol of the true Trinitarian God of whom he preached to them, and in whose name he blessed nature to sanctify it. I prefer the brilliant display of this purple shamrock, however which grows on my front porch. I always enjoy examining and admiring it at this season.
There are lots of other plants that bear the Trinity symbolism too, many of them with three-petaled flowers that represented Creator, Son and Holy Spirit.
My favourite is Trillium grandiflorum, a native of north-eastern and north-western U.S. known as the Trillium lily because it is said to symbolize the Trinity. Both its flower and leaves are tripartite – talk about wonderful imagery for us to meditate on. Unfortunately I don’t have any in my own garden but always keep my eyes open when I am out
Other plants bear the Trinity symbolism too in their three-petaled flowers. In Europe, the wild pansy, or johnny-jump-up, viola tricolor, was also widely known as Trinity Flower – for the three colors of each of its flowers, from which familiar present-day larger pansies blooms have been bred with one or two colors usually dominant.
An interesting aspect of bred pansy strains is that though one colour may dominate, the other two colors are always preserved at the centers of the blooms. Thus, pansies of yellow dominance may be seen to symbolize the glory of our heavenly Creator; purple: the sorrows of the incarnate Son; and white: the light of the empowering Holy Spirit – with the other colors in each instance always retained at the center, serving to remind us that whenever one of the Persons of the Trinity is present the others are present also, in the unity of the Godhead of love. What a delight to walk around my pansy display and examine this aspect of their beautiful sunny faces. How wonderful to know that the Triune God is always present in all three facets even if we are more aware of one facet than the others.
Aloe Vera – a Different Trinitarian Symbol
I was amazed to discover that Aloe vera, that great healing plant, can also be seen as a symbol of the Trinity. Its Trinity symbolism refers to the characteristic successive emergence of new foliage spears from the base of young plants in groups of three – first two beginning spears, and then a third one between them – reflecting the emergence of the Holy Spirit from our Creator and the Son in the interior of the Trinity.
The strawberry plant with its beautiful serrated tripartite leaf was another plant used to teach about the Trinity.
Now I find that every time I look at a flower or the arrangement of new leaves on a plant that I am looking for that trinitarian pattern. How about you? When was the last time that you looked intentionally at a plant with the hope of once more finding the imprint of our Triune God?
Maybe you don’t get as excited about garden plants as I do, but perhaps there are other symbols that speak to you of the nature of God and encourage you to draw close and worship.
