The Seraphim's Song

Christians are trinitarians.  It is a given.  It is necessary.  It is creedal.

It has taken up so much of our lives in praise and prayer that even our baptismal covenant is built on our belief that God is three in one.  The historic language is to say Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We can modernize these titles but must always be careful to leave something metaphorical, something analogical,  with nuance and range if we are to say things trinitarian in the twenty-first century.

As good as it is to be "made in the image of God," our thoughts about the eternal are not eternal thoughts.* Lots of heresies ancient and modern have occured because of how we push our language too far and say too much without a respect for our finitude, our limitations as human beings.

One way to speak about God that invokes a trinitarian appreciation comes from song in Isaiah.  It's the song sung by seraphim in the temple as the man Isaiah is being called to a life of prophecy.  Seraphim -- plural for שְׂרָפִ֨ -- are fantastic creatures both ethereal and terrifying.  The word comes to hebrew use from more ancient cultures especially those who used snakes for their venom to produce hallucinations and the like.

It makes sense as long as we allow the moment to be somewhat mythical.  Especially if we hear their song:

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; 
the whole earth is full of his glory."

While they are dashing about with their six wings flying and hiding their faces and their feet, it's fiery serpents who sing this song.  

For centuries Hebrew monotheists and then Christian trinitarians have sung it and are still singing it to say how magnificent and omnipresent God is.  Built into Isaiah's story is a permission for modern thinkers to be imprecise because our many wings are hiding so much and yet just as gloriously we can hope to be praising God.  

We have adopted the phrase "holy, holy, holy" as trinitarians and in so doing have not forced a precision or exactness into our conversations about God.  Instead we sing it and can if need be imagine just as fantastically as did Isaiah a sense of God's presence.  Thanks be to God for those flying fiery serpents and their song.