How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
Unity; noun, plural unities.
- the state of being one; oneness.
- a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.
- the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.
- absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.
- oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.
- (in literature and art) a relation of all the parts or elements of a work constituting a harmonious whole and producing a single general effect.
- Mathematics.
a. the number one; a quantity regarded as one
b. identity
I am back writing for Jennifer this week. She left me with such an easy yet powerful word “Unity”. Unity is a word understood by most everyone throughout the world. Unity exists everywhere around us and we may not even recognize it or appreciate it. We are unified in our Bible Journal network. We are unified in our church congregations. You could take each one of these definitions above and write a chapter on it. You can also google unity and find many examples, including the name of a Church, a video game development, symbols and pictures of hands, a name of a college, a health insurance company and the list goes on.
When writing this post, two thoughts popped into my mind immediately: how we unite every day and then how as a world we unite in response to a crisis or disaster.
Last Sunday, the Pantagraph was filled with photos of sporting events. My oldest son made the front page in a crowd of NCHS foot supporters, cheering on the team to advance to the next round of playoffs. There were pictures on the subsequent pages of UHigh winning the soccer state title, and I smiled as we picked out players we knew, all united for one reason: to win the state title as a team. There were pictures of random people disappointed by the Cubs loss on Saturday and also fans cheering on the Cubs to victory. Whether it was fans coming together “as of the parts of a whole; unification” to cheer their team to victory of whether it was the actual teammates, working as “the state of being one; oneness” toward victory, people were united. How fun to rally with others to win, “…constituting a harmonious whole”. How important to rely on others and unite when you fail or when life doesn’t go your way.
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
If you are not an avid sports fan, we can all think about others ways people come together: Marching Band, Spanish Club, Student Council, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, small groups at church, bridge group, Book Club, a cooking club, a French class, Operation Christian Child, Lutheran World Relief, all ways we unite in common bonds. We find a common purpose that brings us together.
The second thought I had was around crisis and disaster. Unfortunately, during this Hurricane season, we did see part of the world impacted. Hurricane Matthew was bearing down on the US, and promised to cause significant damage with wind and water. We saw people on the news working together to prepare. The state of Florida was on high alert. South Carolinians were told to evacuate. The strike wasn’t as bad as expected and loved ones could reunite here in the US. However, in other parts of the world such as Antilles, Bahamas, St. Lucia and Haiti, significant damage occurred. People united to rescue others, to help those in despair and to begin the process of rebuilding.
Just in October alone;
- An earthquake hit India
- A Flash Flood in Indonesia killed one and damaged multiple homes
- A Landslide in Columbia killed seven
- Torrential Rain killed eleven in Egypt.
These nations and people throughout the world were struck with fear, with panic and ultimately with disaster. Yet, these moments of crisis bring people together as a nation: “oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.”
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
As the election approaches, we need unity within our country. Whether you follow politics or not, there is no dodging the division of the nation over the Presidential candidates. Whatever the outcome, our new President will have the difficult task of finding a platform on which to unite our divided country.
As we move about our daily lives on Wednesday, let us remember the need for unity. We can be unified in God’s word. We can be stewards of God’s word in our thoughts and in our deeds. Let us unite and come together as one nation.