True Unity
This
has been a busy few days in our Church Calendar. On Saturday (9th) women
around the world, and a few men, remembered the founder of Mothers Union, Mary Sumner. Her great vision concerning
the Christian responsibilities of motherhood led her to gather together women,
many young and inexperienced and from different social backgrounds, for weekly
classes. Within her life time her vision had spread around the world.
On
Monday (11th) we remembered Clare
of Assisi, who stands with Francis as founder of the Franciscan family. Her
passion for following the crucified and resurrected one through living the
gospel life of poverty, and her compassion for all, including the poorest, inspired
many to join her community in Assisi, or others like it around the world. For
her there were no differences because of wealth or rank at birth, and all were
treated equally, and equally expected to engage in the work needed to keep
those houses going. It was a revolutionary vision that challenged a society
built on privilege and wealth.
On
Thursday (14th) we remembered Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest. During
WWII he was sent to Auschwitz for publishing material critical of the Third
Reich. When in August 1941 ten prisoners were condemned to be starved to death
in reprisal for a single escape, Kolbe offered to take the place of a family
man, who lived to attend Kolbe’s canonisation in 1982.
Three
very remarkable people who offered themselves so that others might grow and
flourish. How different from some of our politicians. Already, one week in, we
seem to be teetering on the edge. It feels like we are ruled by the catchy
one-liner, and too often seem to be more interested in our own biases and self-interest. We forget that this is not what is best for
me, but what is best for all, especially those with the least.
In
our Psalm today we remember how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live
in unity. That does not mean we all agree. But it does mean we remember where
that goodness comes from. God’s goodness is offered through the priesthood in Jerusalem,
of which Aaron was the first. God’s life and goodness comes from the dew and
snow on Mount Hermon in the north, which feeds the streams which flow into the Sea
of Galilee, and then down the Jordan, offering water to all in its course. God
is the source of our blessing in this land as well. That was what Mary Sumner,
Clare and Maximilian Kolbe knew, and based their lives
on. Lives lived in service to others.
Howard Wallace reminds us that this psalm is
about unity between kindred, God’s covenant people. “But today, in our
multi-cultural and multi-faith society, we need to re-examine what we might
mean by goodness in unity, and blessing, and who indeed are now our ‘kindred’.
This passage has a lot to say to us about tolerance and compassion on asylum
seekers, (and immigrants from non-English speaking countries) and about living
with understanding and tolerance alongside people of another faith…. Surely,
the blessing of God, and any sense of the call to living in unity implicit in
v. 1 can no longer to be understood in light of the Gospel in any exclusivist
sense.”[1]
How
do these people and today’s readings help us ask good questions this election?
As we engage in conversation how do we do so in a way that respects and honours
all involved, and not just those we agree with? How do we live unity in the
weeks ahead?
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