In this post, I’m concluding my short miniseries of reflections on unity and diversity, spawned in part by my attendance at a recent CAC conference. As I stated last week, diversity and love together form unity, because God’s love covers all that God has made, in every community around the world.
This week, I want to reflect on unity and uniformity in a culture that’s struggling to understand the difference.
Let’s start with the word community, because the word itself makes my point. When we live in community, we are literally evoking “comm,” or togetherness (think “commingled”), with “unity.” The word isn’t communiformity. We don’t all have to look, think, and act identically (although there have been nation-states throughout history that have tried to make us think so, such as the Nazi regime).
Instead, as I stated last week, I believe we are called to embrace our complementary differences in service of a broader purpose: living together in peace and, with God’s help, love. As children, we learn to distinguish ourselves from others through noticing difference. That doesn’t mean we seek to negate or destroy those differences, but rather to embrace them in a unified whole: community.
What does that mean in everyday life? It means that some grow food while others teach children. It means that some are taught how to mend and fix physical things while others learn how to envision more whole and holistic societies. As scripture tells us, we are all members of one body, and cannot say that hands or heart or bones are unnecessary. It is unity, not uniformity, that makes community work.
So, what does that mean for you and me? How can we model community, not communiformity, in our interactions with others? I invite you to look for opportunities to speak up for those who bring (or could offer) different gifts, skills, and experience to your various communities. Take the time to find out what others have to offer and imagine ways to include them. Also, pray about how to share this message with others.
Thanks Shirin for sharing your reflections on community. I particularly appreciated the very practical guidance in the last couple sentences: take time to partner and advocate with others, take time to listen and take times to pray. Powerful way forward with no guarantees on where it will lead.
You’re welcome, Tom! I’m glad my suggestions resonate with you, and the theme as well. And yes, we have no guarantees on where it will lead, which is part of the joy and challenge of authentically building community (and reaching across racial differences too).
Peace,
Shirin
This comes at a crucial time for me. I am struggling with my denomination (Unitarian Universalist) and its top-down push to make all congregations, and by extension, all members, embrace the “fact” that we are living in a white supremacy culture and we white folks are therefore all racists. It’s so not true! Unitarian Universalism has always been considered the most liberal, welcoming, and inclusive denomination in the country. Now they seem to want us to believe just the opposite. So how do I embrace community when I don’t hold the new “paradigm”?
Oh, Aston, yes, it sounds like this is a challenging time for you and your community. I’m so glad that my reflections are helpful as you struggle with the insidious challenges of racism and their very real impact on community. I find myself thinking about Richard Rohr’s commitment to stand “on the edge of the inside” as a prophetic voice…. My prayers are with you.
Peace,
Shirin