. Let us pray:
We give thanks for this beautiful morning and for this beautiful church. We are called to gather here this Sunday morning to give praise, sing, and rejoice.
Today we give thanks for the constitution that shaped and formed the old Kingdom of Denmark, and we give thanks for the freedom, security, and equality that the constitution has given us, as your people living in this world.
We pray to instill in our deep gratitude for constitutions, freedoms, and civil rights, all the pillars of a vibrant democracy, and instill a profound will to defend, protect, renew, and revise these rights, constitutions, and freedoms.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen
Speech a New song about Denmark, Bridges, and Openness.
In Denmark, we are blessed with so many small and bigger islands spread like a mosaic throughout Denmark. And thus, Denmark also has many big and grand, old and new bridges and tunnels that connect this little land of islands and seas.
About 2500 bridges and tunnels and it is hard not to celebrate the importance of these bridges and tunnels as they connect the little country, and they connect the Danes. The bridges have become a true national symbol and they are printed are printed on our currency. On the 1000 Danish kroner there is the image of Storebaeltsbroen/ the bridge from Fun to Sealand, which was opened in 1998 and truly connects Denmark. On the back is a drawing of Solvognen, one of the most significant symbols of Danish heritage from 1400 before Christ.
Bridges do connect us. And bridges are significant in the small Kingdom of Denmark.
That image of bridges connecting us as a country and as a people is the inspiration and occasion for the new Morning Song we are to sing this morning: God morgen Lille land. Good morning little land.
The song was written for the inauguration of Storebaeltsbroen in 1998 and has become a very popular morning song in Denmark. In the song, the bridge is a beautiful symbol of connecting people instead of separating or dividing.
Good morning, little kingdom! A country with the sun, a county with fog. With shores of stones and sand with the ocean’s rolling waves.
Good morning little Kingdom!
We see the symbol of Denmark: the tall and bright bridges, in the sun, in the wind, and in the rain, they carry us from place to place.
In these two first verses, Denmark is described through Danish nature and the bridges between the many islands.
The 3. verse is about the Danish people. All united as we are sitting at the breakfast table – just like we will unite at the picnic table today. The breakfast table becomes a symbol of what united us. Each morning we do the same, regardless of who we are, where we are, in Skagen or Gedser, in Ribe or Roskilde, yes even here this morning in Yorba Linda CA.
The 4 verse is about how bridges do build connection and community between people and countries.
Nature and the people are the pillars of the bridges, that we stand on – a sentiment that we also find in the beloved old Danish song: Jeg ser de bogeys oer, which we will sing later.
Nature and people are pillars of the bridges that we can rely on, so that we can open, invite the world in and build bridges. Bridges are better than walls!
Let us sing this beautiful song about bridges.
Godmorgen, lille land.
Reading and Reflection:
Matthew 28.20 And remember, I am always with you, to the end of the age.
Today is Trinity Sunday. We celebrate the Triune God: Father the Creator, Son the Savior, and Holy Spirit the Counselor. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three expressions of God’s being. We believe in one God, but God shows and manifests in different forms.
If you look at the bulletin this morning, it is a beautiful image of a soaring mountain and a Geometric pattern.
Over the centuries artists have used various symbols to represent the Triune God.
Representing the Trinity in sacred art has always been a rather tall order. How does an artist represent this basic tenet of our faith that is so mysterious and incomprehensible?
There is the Trinity Knot, or triquetra, three leaf-like shapes that interlock, making 3 corners and a circle in the middle.
There the Three-leaf Clover, Often attributed to Saint Patrick, has become one of the most easily identifiable depictions of the Trinity in art.
On the bulletin cover today, it seems to be a geometric collage combining majestic rocks and skies with sacred geometry.
An image of divine unity, divine presence, and divine greatness in nature, and geometry.
“I am with you all always, to the end of the age.”
This is the promise Jesus Christ give to his disciples as we were directing them and sending them into the world. “Go there for….” Jesus said and sent them. And we repeat these words, and this promise every time we celebrate baptism: as a symbol of divine love and presence spoken into the life of a little child.
Today we remember that promise.
“I am with you always to the end of the age.”
Today we confess our faith in God, as father, son, and Holy Spirit, in the complexity of faith, in the comfort of hope, and the compassion of love.