THIS is, of course, a constant quest
for us. How do we
achieve unity, a desired ideal, amid an obvious plurality we can
observe even in each one of us individually, not to mention the
ever-widening variety of things among ourselves and between ourselves
and the rest of creation?
It’s undeniable that deep with us is a natural longing for
unity in whatever level and aspect of our life, whether personal,
familial, social, political, or cultural, etc. Without articulating
it, we somehow know that unity presumes life and order which we like
to enjoy, just as disunity connotes death and disorder which we try to
avoid.
The unity we are looking for, of course, is not uniformity
and an idle, passive and automatic unity. It’s a dynamic, living unity
that has to be worked out, precisely because it is not merely physical
unity we are after. It’s a moral unity that involves how we understand
and use our freedom, and this can turn in any which way.
Equally undeniable is the plurality that we have to
contend with, not only of the different parts we are made of
individually, but also of the different views, opinions, tastes and
preferences, cultures, lifestyles, etc., that we have to learn to live
with among ourselves in the different levels of our collective life.
As we all know, there are now all kinds of understanding
and usage of freedom. There’s the freedom of the different
ideologies—capitalist, liberal, communist, feminist, gay, and now that
of the ISIS, for example.
This is not to mention the traditional kinds of the
freedom of the hedonist, of the atheists and the agnostics, the
worldlings, etc. All these can create quite a chaos of outlooks in the
world that we somehow have to learn now the art of chaos management,
if there is such an animal.
Even in our individual selves, we see different parts that
can go to the extent of competing and conflicting with each other. Not
only do we have to contend with the different parts of our physical
organism that can conflict with each other, especially when we are
sick, but also with the different statuses of our moral and spiritual
life.
St. Paul once expressed this reality vividly: “I do not do
the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” (Rom 7,19)
There is a certain plurality and variety of situations produced by our
sins of envy, greed, lust, pride, etc., and in these too, we have to
somehow find a way to attain unity.
Whether the plurality is valid and understandable or not,
legitimate or not, we need to find unity, or some aspects of it,
because without it we would surely plunge into destruction and
perdition.
What we have to do is to seek this unity amid the
plurality in our lives is to go to the source and author of unity. In
other words, the ever-complicating plurality we have is a call for us
to go to God, the Creator of the universe.
He is the one that holds everything in unity, from
beginning to end. He is the universal lawgiver, who has designed
everything—the spiritual and material, the animate and inanimate
beings—into one unified universe, governing everything with his
providence.
He knows what to do with whatever situation the world may
go as played out by the way we use our freedom. His wisdom cannot be
outwitted by the smartest and most cunning of human intelligence and
freedom.
We have to understand then that for us to have unity amid
the plurality in this world, the unity we have to build should first
of all and always be a religious unity, before it is a social,
political, cultural or historical unity.
Absent that religious essence of unity, we would be
reprising the story of the tower of Babel where a godless pursuit of
unity and development produced disunity and confusion instead, leading
to the unavoidable consequences of conflicts and wars among the
people.
This is what we are witnessing these days, and all
throughout our human history. A unity not springing from the unity of
God and with God is a false and deceptive unity that often attracts
all kinds of danger. We need to ground our pursuit for unity amid
plurality on our loving and faithful relationship with God.
This was the fervent prayer of Christ himself before his
passion and death. “Ut unum sint,” that they may be one “as you,
Father, are in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” (Jn
17,21)
achieve unity, a desired ideal, amid an obvious plurality we can
observe even in each one of us individually, not to mention the
ever-widening variety of things among ourselves and between ourselves
and the rest of creation?
It’s undeniable that deep with us is a natural longing for
unity in whatever level and aspect of our life, whether personal,
familial, social, political, or cultural, etc. Without articulating
it, we somehow know that unity presumes life and order which we like
to enjoy, just as disunity connotes death and disorder which we try to
avoid.
The unity we are looking for, of course, is not uniformity
and an idle, passive and automatic unity. It’s a dynamic, living unity
that has to be worked out, precisely because it is not merely physical
unity we are after. It’s a moral unity that involves how we understand
and use our freedom, and this can turn in any which way.
Equally undeniable is the plurality that we have to
contend with, not only of the different parts we are made of
individually, but also of the different views, opinions, tastes and
preferences, cultures, lifestyles, etc., that we have to learn to live
with among ourselves in the different levels of our collective life.
As we all know, there are now all kinds of understanding
and usage of freedom. There’s the freedom of the different
ideologies—capitalist, liberal, communist, feminist, gay, and now that
of the ISIS, for example.
This is not to mention the traditional kinds of the
freedom of the hedonist, of the atheists and the agnostics, the
worldlings, etc. All these can create quite a chaos of outlooks in the
world that we somehow have to learn now the art of chaos management,
if there is such an animal.
Even in our individual selves, we see different parts that
can go to the extent of competing and conflicting with each other. Not
only do we have to contend with the different parts of our physical
organism that can conflict with each other, especially when we are
sick, but also with the different statuses of our moral and spiritual
life.
St. Paul once expressed this reality vividly: “I do not do
the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” (Rom 7,19)
There is a certain plurality and variety of situations produced by our
sins of envy, greed, lust, pride, etc., and in these too, we have to
somehow find a way to attain unity.
Whether the plurality is valid and understandable or not,
legitimate or not, we need to find unity, or some aspects of it,
because without it we would surely plunge into destruction and
perdition.
What we have to do is to seek this unity amid the
plurality in our lives is to go to the source and author of unity. In
other words, the ever-complicating plurality we have is a call for us
to go to God, the Creator of the universe.
He is the one that holds everything in unity, from
beginning to end. He is the universal lawgiver, who has designed
everything—the spiritual and material, the animate and inanimate
beings—into one unified universe, governing everything with his
providence.
He knows what to do with whatever situation the world may
go as played out by the way we use our freedom. His wisdom cannot be
outwitted by the smartest and most cunning of human intelligence and
freedom.
We have to understand then that for us to have unity amid
the plurality in this world, the unity we have to build should first
of all and always be a religious unity, before it is a social,
political, cultural or historical unity.
Absent that religious essence of unity, we would be
reprising the story of the tower of Babel where a godless pursuit of
unity and development produced disunity and confusion instead, leading
to the unavoidable consequences of conflicts and wars among the
people.
This is what we are witnessing these days, and all
throughout our human history. A unity not springing from the unity of
God and with God is a false and deceptive unity that often attracts
all kinds of danger. We need to ground our pursuit for unity amid
plurality on our loving and faithful relationship with God.
This was the fervent prayer of Christ himself before his
passion and death. “Ut unum sint,” that they may be one “as you,
Father, are in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” (Jn
17,21)
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