The Three in Me

How to Find Comfort in the Trinity.

By Sandy Mayle

Growing up in northwest Pennsylvania, I was frequently drawn to the Allegheny hills that surrounded my home, to their loamy forests and meandering creeks and stands of white pine. I often roamed them while shedding stress or puzzling out a problem or simply escaping the outside world.

But there was a problem, something I couldn’t quite nail down. For some reason I felt unable to fully take in the beauty and vitality all around me.

The brook babbled and the sweet breezes rustled leaves, but I was mute, unable to reply. Caramel-colored pine needles carpeted the ground beneath towering trees, offering sacred sanctuary, but I was numb, unable to respond.

I know now that I was imprisoned in myself, inwardly isolated, and soul-lonely. My soul craved, but I didn’t know what it wanted. My heart longed, but I didn’t know why or for whom. Now I realize that God was speaking, calling to me through His world, but I didn’t have ears to hear. He was revealing Himself through all He had created, but I couldn’t see Him. He was everywhere present and speaking, but I felt inconsolably lonely.

I don’t have to give you statistics; you know. Deep in their core, people are lonely. Perhaps you are lonely, too.

I can say now that there is an antidote to that loneliness.