Another great Trinity Sunday hymn:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

There is probably no hymn that brings back the church I was raised in (Heavenly Rest Episcopal Church, Abilene Texas) more than this hymn. When our organ at SMV played the first few notes of this hymn, it was as if 40 years had dropped away, and I was once again standing on the cold stone floors of Heavenly Rest next to my family. It is THE quintessential hymn of my childhood, followed closely by A Mighty Fortress is Our God and the VBS stalwarts: I Sing a Song of the Saints of God, Onward, Christian Soldiers, and All Things Bright and Beautiful.

Driving home from mass, though, it made me realize why there was such a difference between my emotional response toward God and those of my more evangelical homeschooling cohorts. You don't grow up singing about a God before whom cherubim and seraphim fall down to worship and really "get it" when one of your homeschooling buddies tells you, "I just can't wait to see Jesus after I die. I'm just gonna run up and hug his neck!"

Note: I'm not sayin' there won't be any huggin' goin' on. But my huggin' will only be after the Master reaches down and picks me up off the ground.