You haven't seen the cartoon yet have you?
The two Scottish guys giving St Patrick a difficult time over this...it's on YouTube...
It's a funny but true explanation of the Trinity and how people mess it up a lot in their quest to define God...
What I find to be the best use of the Trinity is to
learn from how different people respond to it, what does and does not make sense to them and why.
Or better yet, start with what they believe in as their own take on the Trinity
and just use THAT system if that is what works for that person!
Buddhists have the Three Refuges: Buddha Dharma and Sangha
How they interpret these three tells me how they see the three levels that the Trinity represents.
The Taoists and Psychologists have similar systems of
Mind Body Spirit (which is one I use the most in practical everyday relations and communications)
Superego Ego Id
or
"Individual, Collective, and Relationship between the two"
I use this the most because I constantly deal with INDIVIDUAL people with their
own beliefs/perceptions who are trying to make sense of COLLECTIVE groups/institutions and society
made up of other INDIVIDUALS or GROUPS with their OWN systems, trying to either defend
or project theirs in conflict or competition with other people/groups doing the same thing!
One friend of mine had his own personal philosophy of
Respect for Truth
Respect for Freedom
and Respect for Environment or People in Society
So that tells me how he sees the three levels or relations that the Trinity represents.
I tend to relate to people in terms of how the UU and the Constitutionalists spell out principles:
UU
* Free and responsible search for TRUTH and Meaning
* Right of Conscience
* Goal of World Community and interconnectedness with global humanity
Constitutionalism
* Freedom of Speech as equal Judicial power
* Freedom of the Press as equal Legislative/Legal power
* Free Exercise of Religion as equal Executive power
And combining these together for checks and balances:
Right Peaceably to Assemble as equal right of security and protections of the laws
Right to Petition for redressing grievances as equal right of defense, representation and due process
(including right to mediation, dissent and consent)
The issue of the Trinity is not so much trying to force one interpretation on other people,
but discovering what each person or group uses to represent the same THREE levels.
Then using these parallel systems to communicate with each other
relative to how each person understands God and the relationships
between individuals and collective truth, society or humanity.
