O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior. the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It was with this prayer that we began and ended our 1988 Diocesan Convention. Our theme was “That we all might be one as Jesus and the Father are one.” Our theme and hope for the year 1989, the centennial year of our state, is unity, union and concord.
In my address to the Convention, I asked that all persons use the Collect for Unity (BCP, p. 818) in daily devotions and preparation for Eucharist.
My reason for making this request, while probably obvious, is that unity is a gift grounded in grace. While we are called upon to work for unity, we recognize our efforts are of no avail if we do not begin in prayer and recognize the source of all unity in the unity that we call the Trinity.
Think about it
The unity that we seek requires prayer and action. The unity that we seek also requires thoughtful reflection. If we are to take seriously the prayer and allow it to influence our actions, we recognize that working toward unity requires some understanding of the nature of unity itself. The unity that we seek will be better if we have a clear understanding and expectation of what such unity entails.
In the upcoming months, by way of this column, I shall share some reflections on the meaning of unity, looking at the many faces and places where we seek unity in our lives as individuals, families, churches, and wider communities.
It is important that we understand that unity is a multilayered and complex hope, task and vocation.
As a gift of grace and a call to Christian vocation, unity is not something that is just another aspect of our life; it is an essential part of the meaning of religion. The call for unity is not simply another theme to be emphasized and then discarded after one year. It is part of the core of who we Christians are and what we profess.
Disunity is sin
In the collect above we call for an end to the “great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions” and we ask to be “delivered from all hatred, prejudice and whatever else may hinder us from Godly union and concord.’
Such division, separation, hatred and prejudice are the death of unity.
Disunity is sin in its most primal form. We recognize this when we talk about sin as separation or division. And we note that the word “religion” comes from a Latin word, religio, which means to bind together, to bring together, to be in union and concord. We see the similarity of this word with that of the word “unity”, coming from a Latin word which means “one” or “union”.
The goal of all religious behavior is unity and union with God. This expressed in union and concord with the created order and creatures of God.
Such union is clearly in evidence in our tradition from an early time in the goal of the “unitive way”.
The unitive way is the third and last stage of the spiritual life according to Christian mystical writers. It follows after having been through the “purgative” and ‘‘illuminative’’ stages or ways which finally culminate in the way of union with God, the unitive way.
According to the early spiritual writers, the unitive way manifested itself by practicing virtues and a life of grace and contemplation.
Hunger for union
With the complexities and competing demands of living, it is hardly surprising that many persons seek a unitive way , a unity that helps make sense out of the diversity plurality and confusion that so often seems to characterize life.
We seek through religion a union with the transcendent. We seek such union knowing that we are fragmented, separated and constantly struggling with sin.
In the months ahead we will be exploring the multi-faceted meaning of unity in our lives. Through prayer, contemplation and action, it is my hope that we will better realize the grace and promise of unity in our individual lives and in our life together as God’s family, the Church.
We will explore the meaning of unity as it relates to religious and theological themes. Specifically, we will look at the meaning of unity in relation to the Sacraments and the themes and seasons of the Church year.
We will explore the relationship of unity to Incarnation, Atonement, reconciliation, evangelism and stewardship.
We will also explore what unity has to do with intra as well as interpersonal relationships.
How are we related?
Relatedness and relationship are essential to any understanding of the meaning of unity.
A relationship with God, with the another, and the ways we relate to the self suggest that unity apart from relationship makes no sense.
We recognize that most clearly in viewing unity as a mystical union. The oneness that we pray for, the oneness that we work for, the oneness that we seek in union with God and one another necessitates relationship on many levels.
We shall explore the many and varied relationships that comprise the unity that we seek.
It is my hope and prayer that as we celebrate and lift up unity as essential to our life together in the Diocese, that each of you and each of your congregations might have an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of unity in your life and the life of the Church.
In Christ,