Unity! Where?

“NaNa, let’s hold hands like a family.” One of my greatest delights is when a child feels safe enough to just grab my hand without another thought. We ask them to hold ours a lot, out of caution when cars are near or when in a crowd. When they unconsciously or consciously seek out a hand to hold, most likely they are in need of a little bit of reassurance that someone is close and they are safe. In my opinion, there is no better feeling than a tiny hand sliding into mine and wrapping there little fingers around my hand. Pure Joy! When my niece was little (little-little, like 2) she would ask to hold hands like a family. Which she had to show me what that was like, intertwining her little fingers together, and instantly it made perfect sense! We still say, “Let’s hold hands like a family!” 😊

When I think of the word “unity,” I think of holding hands like a family. We are all still our own individual selves, with our own thoughts and opinions, but we intertwine with other individuals to make a family. We give what we have to contribute, and lean in on each other for what we may be lacking.

In the past few weeks I have heard the word, “UNITY,” thrown around like a beach ball. This is one of those words that for some reason hits a nerve in me and creates a reaction in me to sit up and pay serious attention. Unity, unification, unified… in my opinion, we, including me, have thrown this word around like it is a unimportant word, one not to define, one that we assume kids are probably not paying attention to- whether we follow through on being united or not.

The Bible lays out the “manner” that leads to maintaining unity. Ephesians 4:1-3, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, URGE you to WALK in a MANNER worthy, of the calling in which you have been called, with all HUMILITY, and GENTLENESS, with PATIENCE, bearing one another IN LOVE, EAGER to maintain the UNITY of the Sprint in the bond of PEACE.”

I also gathered a few definitions from the internet:

“the state of fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole.”

“a thing forming a complex whole.”

“the state of forming a complete and pleasing whole.”

Similar words: integration; cooperation; collaboration; togetherness; oneness; wholeness; integrity; undecidedness.

Opposite words: division; discord; strife.

If we take the key words from Ephesians: humility, gentleness, patience, love, unity, and peace. And then take the “world’s” definition of the word, what do we get? A world, nation, community, government, etc, striving to be human beings living, breathing, communicating, free of pride and arrogance, being considerate, understanding, and self-controlled.

One thing that I found as I was searching things on unity, was the question, “what hinders unity?” And the answer that followed went something like this… “Ideology creates polarization. Polarization leads to the lack of collaboration and communication. Which results in conflict and tension and hinders the ability of terms to work together cohesively.” My interpretation… when I get to committed to an idea/thought/opinion and stop listening to others idea/thought/opinion (pride/arrogance), I completely shut down others and close off myself. In which nothing can be communicated or collaborated on, because I am too prideful to accept even a tiny change in my idea/thought/opinion, and results in loss of many opportunities, relationships, and conversations.

So what in the world am I trying to say? I am not really sure 😂 But let me try to narrow it down to a few pointers:

• Unity requires us to lay down our pride and arrogance and our want to be correct on every issue, and take up a considerate, self-controlled, loving approach to our conversations. This does not mean we are to agree 100% with all our friends and family, actually I would suggest that if you are surrounded by all like-minded people- this should be a concern! Just saying!
• We must open our ears to listen and truly hear and try our best to see and understand other opinions and where these come from. This CAN be done while still holding to your own convictions and beliefs.
• A recognition that no two people have the same story, same background, the same experiences is a really good starting line.
• And I will always say – there is NO ONE who I believe or agree with 100% accept God and His Word!

What is unity? What does it mean for you to see people united?

Life Book of the Week: Worth Seeing: Viewing Others through God’s Eyes, by Amy L. Williams. This year I have been really drawn to learning about cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities, communities, etc. This is a recent read that will have an impact of every part of my life, from page 1 until the day Jesus calls me home! It’s a tough one at times, but I encourage you to press on.

A resource I discovered this week, but goes along with last weeks post: 😉

Google has come up with a “Be Internet Awesome” Family Internet Guide. I found it helpful and educational 😊 https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/digitalwellbeingfamilyguide.pdf