Trinity Sunday is always brought to you by the number three. Most of the music in today’s service will feature the number three in some form. The prelude is a simple setting of “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name,” a typical trinitarian hymn that is set in triple meter. That means that every bar has three, distinct beats, like a waltz.

You’ll also notice this same triple feeling in today’s offertory, an anthem by Dale Wood. This anthem was buried in our library, but I dusted it off and put it on the calendar. I couldn’t even find a recording of it, so I don’t think it’s widely known. What I like about it, is how Wood captures the mysterious essence of the trinity, as well as the simplicity of it. It’s set in triple meter (the simple part), but he composed a chant-like melody that sounds ancient and mysterious (the unknowable part).

The postlude also contains elements of the number three. It’s essentially in three-part texture, if you don’t include the pedal. The pedal line in this piece by Bach, functions only as a supportive entity.  The real fun, and main thematic material, is in the upper three lines, played by the hands. In music, we call this trio texture. The English translation for the postlude is, “We All Believe in One God,” which is taken from the Creed. The original chorale tune, off of which this piece is based, has a much longer melody. But Bach choses to use just the first seven notes of the hymn. Why would that be of interest? It’s because the number 7 has typically been used as the number which represents the perfection of God. A three-part texture, with a seven-note tune is actually really cool because it may be a way that Bach was expressing the theology of a perfect God (7) in three persons (3). It’s a way of confirming that Christianity is indeed a monotheistic faith. Remember, in the early Church, believers were being accused of being polytheistic, up until the Council of Nicea around 325 AD. It was there that the doctrine of the Trinity was officially established with the declaration, “We Believe in One God.”

I don’t understand the trinity, but I understand the number three. I don’t understand myself, but I understand that I am mind, body, and soul. It’s a mystery, it’s not totally knowable, but there are cognitive conclusions I can make. I’m sure I’m simple in some ways, but also unknowable in others. A couple of Sundays ago, we heard in the readings that God was Alpha and Omega, does that make him binary, rather than trinitarian? It most likely means that each that week, and each day, we can come up with a new way of knowing our creator. And we can come up with new ways of knowing ourselves.

The same is true for music. I don’t know quite what it is, but I could write volumes about it. The unknowable gives us infinite ways of exploring our world, our God, and ourselves. You’re likely discovering new things about yourself, even if you are advanced in years. I hope you’re also discovering new ways of knowing your creator. You can’t run out of ideas, you cannot run out of ways to find God, and you cannot really summarize Him. Same applies to yourself. But the number three is a good place to start because it’s simple to understand. Just don’t let that be the end, there’s so much more to explore. Soli deo Gloria!