I have been thinking about Unity and division as this seems to be the new word of the day (unity)—what unites and what divides and why. Obviously, commonalities unite or connect and differences divide, but in what proportions do they need to be in order to achieve harmonic cohesion?
Christians, in my view, tend to fall into two basic camps: those that really grant great merit and credence to the letter of the law, and those that tend more towards the spirit of the law. It seems they are both equally valid. Christ shows us that the letter of the law is not so concrete as to not have movement (healing on the sabbath day). He takes into account the full depth and context of the law and applies it to extricate the true spirit behind the law. He came into the world to fulfill the law (so we don't have to)—Phew, sigh of relief—yet still clearly states that he is not there to abolish the law, so it is still important. In his ministry he clearly calls people to repent or give up of their sin, which would also imply and point to the continued importance of the law, but does so in a way that people are able to receive, the way of Love and mercy. Regardless of which camp of Christianity one leans toward or falls into, the hope would be that the body of Christ, is the overarching unifying factor. All are one in Christ Jesus, no male nor female, gentile or jew.
I was reflecting about the similarity in politics (starting with American), the left and right and the supposed unifying factor of "the United states". I listened to a wonderful podcast a couple of years ago with Steven Pinker, a Jewish atheist, Harvard professor of behavioral psychology, and Jordan Peterson a Canadian professor and practitioner of psychology. I would say Peterson is very Christian leaning in his thinking and approach to life (though not professed) — in his own words, he "acts as if God exists". It was so fascinating to learn about personality differences, specifically trait openness and trait conscientiousness. It seems most people fall into primarily one of these two categories.
Pinker and Peterson also highlighted the absolute necessity for both types in order to have a healthy and functioning society. They also illuminated why for example, from a historic and biological perspective, someone might be one or the other, and they show just how deeply rooted some of the traits are, even to the level of our DNA. Amazing! For example people who fall into the the trait conscientiousness category tend to like boundaries, rules, structure. They might be more prone to want to distance themselves from someone they perceive as different because historically some of these different tribes would indeed bring disease to their tribe and whole groups of people would be wiped out. So the "threat" comes not from some close-minded, hateful way of being, rather what may be perceived as a true threat.
However again, both types are needed for a healthy functioning society. One who pushes for structure and order and one who pushes for innovation, which as a necessary element must go into chaos in order for something new to be found. Another interesting fact they pointed out was that our world at this time in history has never been so "comfortable". In sum we have less poverty — less of the world's population suffers from starvation, and overall quality of life that has never been better. Yet here we are, in most peoples perceptions we are in a terrible state. Why? The division of ideas seems to be polarized at an all time high. Are we too comfortable? Is technology to blame? Is this some cosmic planetary woo woo shift? Is God chastising his people to bring them to him by losing hope in humanity so that they will in turn seek something greater?
I know if this were a public dialogue people in the US would immediately point to 45. I would argue that division in this country was already on a strong trajectory even during the Obama years (probably before but this is when I noticed it). I for one was somewhat disheartened as my thinking was: now that we have an African American president race relations will improve. I saw precisely the opposite. I am not blaming Obama, nor Trump for that matter, just saying I don't think any one person is the cause, even if they were not the solution, or actively exacerbated the situation. I don't think it has to do with Capitalism because I also witness the same trend in Europe. Many Jewish people actually are fleeing some places for fear of their well being, which is a huge statement about division.
I wish that everyone would listen to that podcast. Knowledge is power. I wish that people would seek to truly understand the other, their beliefs and practices even if they disagree. As a friend pointed out years ago, if things are right/wrong, black/white, then God is not in it. Makes sense, the peace that passeth All understanding. I also spoke to a healer friend who reminded me of the Trinity — we need the third element. There is a right/wrong but there has to be the third element to mediate the two and create the unity. So profound, this really resonated with me. The third element is the great harmonizer, that is where the music is, and as my choir director said, "music is Love".
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