I have been thinking about the divisions in our country and while some feel that there is hope because one man is out and another is in, I am aware just by reading my Facebook feed that half of the posts on Inauguration Day were grieving and upset and about half of the posts were celebrating and experiencing relief.
But irregardless of which side you find yourself on...what will actually help our country heal and move towards unity, not division?
And honestly, a step back...do you even feel that unity is the goal?
I will assume that we do want unity, and we don't want division. But I'm acknowledging that it's possible we don't all want unity... but in the case that we do, what would help unify us?
Is it agreeing on everything? I think we can look back on history to know that humans will never all agree...we will continue to have different views on the "right" way forward. And therein lies the struggle. How do we allow for diverse perspectives and find unity?
I think some of our obstacles to unity are when we believe there is only one right way, and that right way is my/our way of thinking. When we have an us vs them mentality, we have built a wall between unity. How do we unify without believing we have to convince the other side to join us on our side of the wall?
It requires humility
It requires letting go of being right
It requires love for the hardest to love (the ones we don't understand, the ones who voted differently than us, the ones who believe differently, the ones we consider our enemy...)
It requires hard work, intentional work
It requires us to let go of our belief that there is only one "right" way to view things
It requires forgiveness
and confession
This is true in the church, this is true politically, this is true inter-racially, this is true anywhere we see divisions.
Honestly it sounds pretty hard, nearly impossible
Perhaps that is why one of Jesus' only recorded prayers is for unity, because he knew just how difficult it is for us to be united.
We continue to focus on being right
having the right answers
knowing the only way
What if we focused on the truth that sets us free...
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
as I have loved you
LOVE YOUR ENEMY
because anyone can love those who are like ourselves
LOVE
instead of living in fear
LOVE
Yes, Love...
because of this
I believe there is reason to still have hope
Not because of who was elected president
But because there is still Love in our world
And Love is greater than fear
So there is always hope
May it be so
Amen.
