Unity

Humanity, on a very macro level, has always been subject to division and hatred. The division that we see today is not a new, unprecedented development. In reality, it’s not even new to the United States in the last fifty, no, even ten years. Ironic name: “United States”. When have we ever been united?

We are so often separated from one another by an “Us vs. Them” mindset. We are paralyzed by the unknown, afraid of what we do not know and demonizing those we do not know.

Each of us has been born into a system designed to separate us from the proverbial other. Each of us sees through shattered lenses, meaning that we have overt and covert biases that taint how we view the world. Each of us operates within an unjust system that either benefits us or persecutes us through no action or fault of our own.

It’s not our doing, but we do, often unknowingly, perpetuate this system of injustice.

Unity requires sacrifice, a radical departure from the status quo that bids us to be self-seeking. Unity demands that we no longer seek what is best for us as individuals and instead seeks what is best for us as a whole.

Again, this is the system that we, through no choice of our own, reside within, but the beautiful thing is that systems can be changed. Jesus lived within a broken and corrupt system, but he provided an alternative called the Kingdom of God. And he said that we could live in this Kingdom here and now. It is not a system that we have to wait until our deaths to reach, but it is a way of life that is available to us now.

Jesus died because of this Kingdom. Like I said, true unity requires sacrifice, and true equity requires that we give up what was never truly ours to begin with and share it with all people, including our enemies.

In truth, our enemies are the ones with whom we should be dining.

It is up to us to change the broken systems in which we live. We must become aware, and then we must act. You say that there is a lot wrong with the world, but then you end up perpetuating the evil in which you condemn. The unity which we all desire demands that we listen to those with whom we deeply disagree and then move forward together.

If you want to change the world, you must first seek to change yourself. Jesus talked about how we should remove the planks from our own eyes before we remove the speck in another’s. When you disagree with somebody, take a deep look at yourself and your conscious and unconscious biases. Then seek to listen and truly understand where your supposed enemy is coming from. I can promise you that if you truly seek to understand your enemy, they will no longer be your enemy.

In the end, there has never been an “us vs. them”. On a very fundamental level, there is no separation between you and your neighbor. This one life we live is a life meant to be shared. This means you can (and should) learn from those with whom you most fundamentally disagree. Perhaps they know something you don’t.

Unity will require your sacrifice. The Kingdom does not exist for your individual benefit. If something is not equitable for all, then it is not equitable at all.

It’s not about you, has never been about you, nor will it ever be about you. It is about us. The beautiful thing about this, though, is that You are included in that Us.