This weekend we have the feast of the Holy Trinity to celebrate. It is a celebration of relationship, of union, and love. The Trinity reveals a way of life that God wants us to enjoy. Throughout time, people's understanding of God has shaped how one lives in society and how one interacts with other people. If we have an understanding that revolves largely on the Old Testament, we will most likely see God as a taskmaster. He may be a God that enjoys punishing whoever does not live up to some lofty standards. To live in fear, spills over into our worldly relationships.

The Ku Klux Klan, whose understanding of God would be that of a white European male, would think their God is indifferent to anyone not of their race. The clan is Christian and even in the midst of lynchings, they were still in the pews on Sunday worshiping like nothing was wrong. When our understanding of God is so flawed, we cannot possibly be in harmony with the concept of relationship and what God had in mind at creation. Faulty understandings of God will usually lead to imperfect love. This weekend we celebrate the perfect.

The Trinity is perfect love and perfect relationship and is the model for human relationships desired by God. We can be thankful for this model. It took a long time for the Church to realize this and if we look at our own history, that perfect love does not need to convert souls at the sword or go to war in the name of Christ. Perfect love does not say that there are things worth killing for...only dying for. It is a good weekend to thank God for love...because the lack of it has taken the lives of so many service men and women who never were able live until a natural death.