Trinity Outdoors

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
 Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
 holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
 God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

With the Church through the ages,

we speak of God as one and triune:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We also speak of God as
   Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer
   God, Christ, and Spirit
   Mother, Friend, and Comforter
   Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love,
   and in other ways that speak faithfully of
the One on whom our hearts rely,
the fully shared life at the heart of the universe.

Song of Faith -- United Church of Canada 2006

It's always a tough choice to ditch church but we have been hankering to get out on the water for a couple of weeks so headed to the Salmon River north of Napanee early in the day. Our put-in spot near Roblin gives access to a portion of the river where there are no buildings and often (today included) we see no other human beings. We were in our kayaks for 2 1/2 hours, taking some breaks to experience what was a deep solitude with very little “anthrophony" (sounds made by humans) and a lovely choir of  “biophony” (sounds made by any other living organisms).

The experience was deeply worshipful and at one point Ruth sang the opening verse of the traditional hymn Holy Holy Holy. She didn't know that this is Trinity Sunday but she intuitively got it right in this cathedral of water and trees and creatures great and small. The breath of the Spirit moved gently over the waters and in the treetops, we had a profound sense of the interrelationship of Creator and Creatures, and we celebrated God-with-Us in human experience through Christ -- all without actually articulating any Trinitarian creed or formula.

On our drive back to Belleville Ruth found the lyrics of the hymn and the final verse which proclaims:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
 All thy works shall praise thy name in earth
  and sky and sea;
 holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
 God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Amen!