Unity
This week, I wanted to share this journal writing from by bride, Jill. She was just putting down some thoughts on unity and interconnectedness. In the process, she created something special here. With her permission, I wanted to share this with you. Enjoy!
Why is it that when someone yawns, I can’t help but yawn? What causes me to cry when watching perfect strangers cross the finish line at the end of a marathon? How can I suddenly feel like I know someone after we laugh or cry together? And why does my heart sink when I hear an ambulance zoom past with its lights flashing? Maybe there’s more going on beneath the surface, than what we realize. Maybe we are all somehow connected to each other. Maybe there is just one humanity with many parts. And maybe Christ was trying to tell us this all along.
Humanity has a long history of dividing itself up into separate “tribes.” But the gospel message destroys those divisions. Jesus announced the kingdom of God with one God that unites us all. In John 17:20-23, Jesus prayed for all of us to be one, “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity...”
One way scriptures convey our interconnectedness is by describing us, separate humans, as “the body” of Christ. Just as each cell in the body serves its own unique purpose, all the cells work together to support the whole body. Likewise, we need to recognize that humanity, in all of its wonderful diversity, is really one, unified whole. And our job is to live out our uniqueness in a way that benefits the whole.
Imagine how different things would be if we understood this. What would it look like for humans to live as one unified body?
Our hand doesn’t need 5 thumbs. But 4 different fingers and one thumb sure make a great hand! So maybe we’d learn to see our differences as assets instead of threats.
Our bodies wouldn’t be better off if we made our arms stronger at the expense of our shoulders, would they? This reveals the absurdity of competing with each other to get ahead. Maybe we would view success as ALL of us moving ahead tOgEtHeR.
What good would it do for the leg to hoard all of the oxygen, and the brain get none? Yet we live in a world where certain “tribes” stockpile resources while others go without. Maybe if we understood our connectedness, we would find our worth and value in what we have to contribute rather than in how much we can get for ourselves.
What if your ears heard a noise, would your head tell your feet, “I’m not turning, you do do it.” Maybe if we understood living in unity, we would stop insisting on others to change. Because our focus would be on giving, we’d want to change ourselves knowing that others needed us to.
Now why do you think Jesus emphasizes to “love your neighbor as yourself?” Could it be that we are all connected? Is it true that we rise by lifting others? If so, then we have nothing to gain and everything to lose by dividing up into separate tribes, digging in our heels, and working to prove our “rightness.” When one part suffers, we all suffer. Let’s explore this new kingdom Jesus came to bring about. In this kingdom, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
