Let us pray: Bless, O God, what I see with my eyes, and bless what I see in my mind. Bless, O God, what I hear with my ears, and bless what I hear in my heart. Bless, O God, what I say with my lips, and bless what I say in my deeds. Amen.

    About twenty years or so ago a revival - in the sense of rediscovery - began to happen. It centred on Celtic music. Slowly but surely, fiddle music, aided by the bodhran and feadan, more likely known as the celtic drum and tin whistle, began to permeate the radio waves, CD music sales and folk festival band bookings. Perhaps about the same time, a revival with the same historic roots began to occur. References to celtic spirituality started showing up in some of the places that I frequent.

    Up until these revivals, the word celtic to me was celtic, and it referred to a green uniformed basketball team from Boston.

    I am not one to pay too much attention to fads. Even though celtic music appealed to me a great deal, it felt like a fad and I found myself resisting the urge to go out and buy all the CDs that seemed to be appearing from performers who played music from that genre. Similarily, celtic worship and celtic spirituality was met more by resistance from me than acceptance. Especially when it came to matters theological, the references to the ancient traditions were ones that led me to be skeptical rather than inquisitive.

    Twenty years (at least) however, makes for more than a passing fad. Celtic music seems here to stay and for that I am now most glad. And yes, we now do have many different compact discs with music from that genre.

    A little more than two years ago I happened to notice a little book at a Revelations Book store display. It was called “Circle of Prayer: Prayers and blessings in the Celtic tradition”. It was small and pretty - just the right size for me to see what all the interest in celtic worship and spirituality was all about.

    The rest as they say, is history - and yes, the play on words is intentional. Joyce Denham, the author of the book has a way with words, and in her book she has translated some of the prayers from the magnum opus of celtic prayer called the Carmina Gadelica. She has also written her own prayers using the same patterns and themes that occur in the celtic tradition.

    I wish I had not been so determined for oh these twenty years or so. You see, I could have discovered what was obviously speaking to many others for that length of time. Coming from good celtic stock as I do, I fully expect that there is something about the celtic tradition that speaks to me in ways that are too deep for words.

    This is my aboriginal tradition. A recent edition of Gathering - a resource for worship planners - published by the United Church of Canada, was devoted in part to celtic worship. In the opening editorial, worship professor of Emmanuel College says this, “There is a sense in which Celtic Christianity is a contradiction in terms. The Christianity born in the fifth and sixth centuries in what is now England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland was a complex array of practices and beliefs conceived through the meeting of pagan rituals and the Roman rite. In this sense, “Celtic” means indigenous and aboriginal, while “Christian” means Roman and institutional.”

    That’s probably another reason I like it - because it stands in opposition to the institutional which is often a hindrance to the experience of God’s presence. Prayers and worship experience in the Celtic tradition to me speak simply of being grounded with God in everyday life.

    I also credit my rediscovery of the Celtic tradition, which was quite possibly the way my ancestors lived out their relationship with God, with an ability to reclaim the concept of the Trinity in my faith. I’ve always believed that the concept of trinity was a way to open minds to the possibility of understanding God’s presence from more than one perspective. But I’ve also seen that the institutional, the orthodox, the traditional church has used the trinity to close down our understanding of God. Rather than being a way to open our hearts and minds to new ways of experiencing God, it has been used to shut down any re-imagining from the traditional and limited recitation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
    In the celtic prayers I read, yes, that wording can be found, but there is something about the celtic world view that speaks to me about openness and connection with creation in every way, shape and form. The trinity is a vitally important concept in celtic spirituality, but it’s one I want to embrace rather than challenge. Maybe that’s the part that goes beyond words. I can’t explain it, it just says something important to my soul and to help me in my relationship with God.

    Perhaps it’s not for you - and that’s okay. Maybe your spirit is stirred by the traditions that make up your roots and goodness me, there are many others in this wonderful country we call home, including those of the people who’ve lived on this land for many thousands of years - with their own aboriginal traditions and spirituality to bring meaning and insight to our relationship with God. If the trinity means anything to us, it means that we are to be open to the many different ways we name God and experience God’s presence in our lives and the world around us.

    I leave you then with this prayer by Joyce Denham for Trinity Sunday - a prayer in the celtic tradition:

    The Great Three
Three above me, overhead,
Three upon the path I tread,
Three who fill the boundless earth,
Three in crashing wave and firth,
Three who are enfolding me,
Three, for all eternity. Amen.