“Just as the Father has loved me, so also I have loved you.  Remain in my love.” Jesus as recorded in John 15

“A three-strand cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12

The eternal love of the Trinity which I wrote about last week is not a theological concept, nor a nice “other-worldly” idea, nor is it a matter of the head.  It is a practical matter of the heart that can be practiced in the everyday here and now.  The Celts recognized this and embraced the love of God in and for others.

A story is told of a miracle of love that St. Brigid performed.  A man had come to her complaining that his wife never gave him any love.  St. Brigid took water and blessed it, I am certain in the Name of The Trinity, and instructed the man to sprinkle the water everywhere in his house.  You might guess what happened; the wife was completely enamored with her husband to the point that he needed to escape from her.

Viewed from a more “proper” Puritan perspective of the past, the love practices of the Celts might seem a bit bawdy and tawdry.  But I believe they fully embraced their own humanity and the gift of love that God had not only given but experienced within the Godhead of the Trinity.

In the passage above Jesus speaks of the love of the Father that He shared.  The love of God was poured out from the very beginning.  It is an act of love for God the Father to create, a loving action that is imitated and emulated whenever a child is created.  It is an act of love for The Son to fully give Himself in a sacrificial sense for others.  The life of Jesus as described in the Gospels is a life overflowing with love for others. Jesus empties Himself in order to fill others.  The early followers of Jesus, and the Celts, did the same, giving of their very own lives for the sake of others and God.  And of course, the Spirit is seen as the one who fills the heart with the love of God that one then is privileged to share with others.  That Spirit of love might be described best as the feelings so commonly associated with love.

The intertwining nature of love between and within the Trinity that is spoken of in the verse from Ecclesiastes was reflected in many ways among the Celts, the foremost being the Celtic knot.  It served as a reminder of the eternal and binding nature of the love of God for people, and a symbolic reminder of how God’s people are called to love one another.

As I write this, I pause to wonder how the love of the Trinity is present in my own life.  What would you say?  Have you considered the Presence of God’s Trinitarian love in your life?  What does it look like?  What does it feel like?  How is it received and shared?

I leave you with the full passage from Ecclesiastes, which I find to be quite profound in its simplicity.

Two people are better than one because they can reap more benefit from their labor.

For if they fall one will help their companion up.

But pity the person who falls and has no one to help him.

Furthermore, if two lie down together they can keep each other warm.

But how can one person keep warm by himself?

Although an enemy may overpower one person, two people can withstand him.

A three-strand cord is not easily broken.