May 30th,2010 • The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity
God Homogenized
When a cow is milked, and as the milk settles, a layer of cream forms at the top of the milk. Since milk is an oil and water combination, it doesn’t stay mixed unless it is “homogenized.” Homogenized milk is run through tiny tubes, sometimes during the pasteurization process to keep fat and liquid molecules together. Fat molecules are reduced in size and tend to disperse more evenly throughout the milk so that creaming on the top of milk doesn’t occur.
Now you might be wondering what this little lesson on homogenization has to do with the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity which we celebrate this weekend. Well it’s yet another human attempt to describe the Divine -- who is one God, but three persons. In fact in the earliest century of the church (in the year 325 Ad to be exact), the church described how one God could be three persons using the greek word “homousion” -- which is the root of the word “homogenize.”
So I don’t know if this image of a “homogenized God” will help you grow spiritually or not, but it’s worth a try. In some ways I’m a homogenized version of my mother and father. I’m my own person (as are they) but I’m made up their DNA combined, an yet I’m still separate, So I’m kind of a homogenized trinity. I couldn’t have existed without both my mother and father’s existence. And there are traits -- physical and personality -- that flow from their existence and influence.
So too it is with the “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” One can’t exist without the other, yet they are homogenized -- that is mixed together in a unity, yet their individuality isn’t taken away.
If your preference is to pray to the Father -- you get Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s attention too. If you usually pray to Jesus, you still get the Father and the Holy Spirit to be part of you life. If the Holy Spirit is the one you’re most drawn toward, it doesn’t leave out the other two. They are always in one another.
And because Jesus comes to us in communion, they are in us too.
Happy feast day!
