There is something special, maybe even magical, about the number three. In the Christian religion, the number three is found everywhere.
Trinity Sunday celebrates good things in threes -- the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And so I will begin with examples of THREE in the Christian religion.
RELIGION:
Now faith, hope and love remain — these three things — and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13 (in the Bible)
Noah had three children.
Christ rose on the morning of the third day, finishing the work that God had planned for the redemption of humanity and the restoration of our relationship with God.
Christ was thirty years old when went out to preach to the world and he was sold for 30 pieces of silver (divisible by 3).
Christ was 33 when he died for our sins (divisible by 3).
Matthew 26: 75 'And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him,
Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept
bitterly.'
In Revelation in the New Testament the beast’s number is 666 also divisible by 3.
"Holy, Holy, Holy" is a Christian hymn in which the word "holy" is repeated three times.
There were 3 Wise men who visited Jesus after His birth and left Him three gifts.
Three people (including Jesus) were crucified at the Crucifixion.
John Atherton wrote a parody of the famous poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer and called it "Threes."
THREES:
I think that I shall never c
A # lovelier than 3;
For 3 < 6 or 4,
And than 1 it's slightly more.
All things in nature come in 3s,
Like ... , trio's, Q.E.D.s;
While $s gain more dignity
if augmented 3 x 3 --
A 3 whose slender curves are pressed
By banks, for compound interest;
Oh, would that, paying loans or rent,
My rates were only 3%!
3² expands with rapture free,
And reaches toward infinity;
3 complements each x and y,
And intimately lives with pi.
A circle's # of °
Are best ÷ up by 3s,
But wrapped in dim obscurity
Is the square root of 3.
Atoms are split by men like me,
But only God is 1 in 3.
The Power of THREE in Writing By Brian Backman
• Speech coaches explain to their students that the audience more readily remembers something if it is repeated three times.
• Military instructors teach their soldiers to limit their focus to three tasks or goals.
• Comedians use a three-part formula for jokes.
First, they set up the situation; then they continue the theme; and finally they twist the theme around, delivering the punch line.
• Memorable historical speeches often include three-part lines:
Friends, Romans, countrymen . . . (William Shakespeare) Government of the people, by the people, for the people. (Abraham Lincoln) Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! (Martin Luther King)
• Good teachers know that people learn better in threes: reading about something, writing about it, and speaking about it.
• Sales trainers teach their salespeople to give the buyer three reasons to buy the product, three benefits of the product, three testimonials from satisfied customers, and finally, three choices on how to purchase the product.
Advertisers create memorable slogans using three-beat lines:
“The few, the proud, the Marines” -- The Marines
“Just do it” -- Nike
“Eat Mor Chikin!” -- Chick-Fil-A
“I'm lovin' it” -- McDonald's
“Breakfast of Champions” -- Wheaties
“M'm! M'm! Good!” -- Campbell's Soup
Threes in Entertainment:
Three's Company
My Three Sons
Blood, sweat and tears – The band
Theodore - Simon - Alvin (Chipmunks)
Huey - Duey - Louie (Donald Duck Nephews)
Larry - Moe -Curley (3 Stooges)
The Three Amigos
3 picture crew commands: Lights - Camera - Action
Some children's stories and games:
3 repetitions: Row-Row-Row (your boat)
3 blind mice
3 repetitions: B-I-NGO (and Bingo was his name)
3 repetitions: this little piggie cried wee - wee - wee, all the way home
3 in a row: Tic - Tac - Toe
3 bears: Pappa bear - Mamma bear - Baby bear
3 men in a tub, Rub-a-dub-dub
3 Little Pigs
3 Little Kitten that Lost their Mittens
3 Musketeers
Goldilocks that had to deal with the 3 Bears.
3-part utterances:
Yaba-Daba-Do (Fred Flintstone)
Scooby-Dooby-Doo (Scooby Doo)
Hey-Hey-Hey (Fat Albert)
Snap-Crackle-Pop (Rice Krispies)
Umm-Umm-Good (Campbell's Soups)
Ho-Ho-Ho (Green Giant & Santa Claus)
Miscellaneous Threes:
The best things come in threes. (Norweigan proverb)
Some folks will say, “Third time’s the charm” for good luck after failing twice.
3-colored street lights: Red- Yellow -Green
3 number emergency: 9-1-1
3 directions: Look left-right-left or right-left-right before crossing a street
3-lettered reference: Children are taught their ABC's, not ABCD's...
3 finger support: to hold pencils, pens, crayons, scissors, bowling balls, darts etc ....
3 part writing/speaking formula: Tell what you're going to say- Tell it - Tell what you said
3 Cheers for Red, White, Blue
There are three seen dimensions length, width, height.
There are three states of matter, gas, solid, liquid.
A tripod is used till today for cameras, a tricycle is used by very young people and older people as well.
There are three definitions of time, past, present, future.
There are three primary colors.
Hockey has 3 periods.
There are 3 acts of existence - birth/life/death.
3 part cheers: Hip! Hip! Hurray!
3 patterned betting game: Rock - Paper - Scissors
3 ships of Christopher Columbus: Nina - Pinta - Santa Maria
3 Olympic Medals: Gold - Silver - Bronze
3 firing squad commands: Ready - Aim - Fire
3 railroad crossing rules: Stop - Look - Listen
3 (clothing) fire extinguishing rules: Stop - Drop - Roll
3 traditional divisions of matter: Animal - Vegetable - Mineral
3 traditional divisions of geography: Land - Sea - Air