(This is a repost. It was first published in March of 2019. This description of the Trinity’s incredible relationship, which we have all been born into, as mellifluous harmony is too wonderful to only post once. Enjoy!)

     The title of this blog post might seem a bit redundant. Mellifluous and harmony are very close in meaning. In fact, mellifluous has harmonious in its dictionary definition and harmony has mellifluousness in its definition.

     The use of these two very similar words in one title, however, is intentional since this post is about the relationship of the Trinity: i.e. the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trying to describe this unique and special relationship takes some unique and special words.

     Since harmony (a noun) is the more familiar of the two words, let’s look at its meaning first.

     “Accord, agreement, peace, peacefulness, amity, amicability, friendship, fellowship,  cooperation, understanding, consensus, unity, sympathy, rapport, like-mindedness; unison, union, concert, oneness,” are a few synonyms from the dictionary. Clearly, every word defining harmony can be attributed to the relationship of the Trinity.

     But harmony alone doesn’t describe the depth and quality of the Trinity’s relationship. So in our humble attempt to get closer, we add mellifluous, a less familiar adjective.

     Expanding harmony with a word that means “honeyed, mellow, soft, liquid, silvery, soothing, rich, smooth” comes closer to the truth revealed by Jesus in John 16: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” 

     Still better, we invite the voice of C. Baxter Kruger, author of The Shack Revisited, to get even closer. “For this trinitarian relationship, this abounding and joyous communion, this unspeakable oneness of love, is the very womb of the universe and of humanity within it.” (The Shack Revisited, 2012, Faithwords, Hachette Book Group, Inc, page 115) 

     The truth of the perfect, loving,  mellifluous harmony between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of the Trinity is portrayed throughout the Bible.  But there is no better evidence that the Creator of the Universe has a unified three-in-one expression than the desire of His creation to live in loving relationship with others.

     Part of being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), is our strong desire to know and to be known by others. As Kruger puts it, if we had been created in the image of a single-personed God we would choose aloneness over togetherness. As it is, man’s deepest longing is to be in intimate, loving, trusting relationships.

     The creation of man was a result of the mellifluous harmonious relationship of the Triune God. We were created through this oneness and, once created, invited into it.  Is it any wonder that the psalmist frequently uses “honey” as a way to describe the richness and sweetness of God’s love for His creation?

     Pause here for a moment, and let it sink in…the Godhead, the Ancient of Days, the incomparable “I Am,” invites us into this breathtakingly beautiful, eternally perfect, and abundant life-giving love fest. It is difficult to fully appreciate the fact that we have access to such an astounding reality and, then, that it comes entirely by God’s grace.

     Since living in relationship with others is a natural desire of our creation, it would seem wise to know how we should live.

     It is actually very simple. Our relationships should be an extension of the Trinitarian relationship. Mellifluous harmonious relationship is how Christians can and should be living with each other. 

     It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that mellifluous harmony means sacrificing one’s identity. Once again, we can look to the dynamics of the Trinity for our inspiration.

     According to Fr. Richard Rohr, author of The Divine Dance,  the mystery of the Trinity, is that it is a “three-way boundaried relationship” yet each is totally surrendered to the others. “Each person (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is totally autonomous and yet perfectly given.”

     Since this seemingly oxymoron, self-sufficient autonomy, exists as reality in the Trinity, it can and should also exist in our relationships.

     Fr. Rohr, lecturing on his latest book, states that the Trinity’s openness to one another “does not mean conformity to the other” and that this is only possible because each has a perfect sense of their individuality.

     “Only people who have a strong sense of their individuality can in fact give themselves away freely,” Rohr said.  “You’ve got to, strangely enough, be very sure of yourself to truly give yourself away.”

     In other words, we enter mellifluous harmonious relationship solidly knowing our own unique identity and then our “I” (selflessly and joyously) becomes “we” through the working of the Holy Spirit.

     The Trinitarian mellifluous harmony is the true unity which the Body of Christ so desperately needs.