Skip to main content

Unity

                How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. (Psalm 133)

                Today’s passage is outside of our culture. While we can imagine dumping a barrel of sports drink, or some ridiculous amount of ice water on someone’s head, the idea of pouring some sort of oil, and especially an oil that was restricted only to that purpose, sounds a little strange. If we add that the oil represented the Holy Spirit or the presence of God, it makes it even stranger. It helps me to know that the oil was made of olive oil, myrrh, cinnamon, and cassia. I’ve read that Myrrh smells warm, resinous, slightly sweet, and spicy, with woody and medicinal undertones. Cinnamon and cassia are related and delightful. This means that the scent of that oil in the hair and on the clothes would remind everyone, especially the high priest, of God's closeness and of the high priest's relationship with God. Scents tend to be linked closely with emotions and memories. This is why aromatherapy helps people.

                This description of the oil is used for dwelling together in unity. Part of me recoils because “unity” means brainless conformity to me, and to many people. Unity is like the lyrics of the Patty Duke Show:

Still, they're cousins,
Identical cousins and you'll find,
They laugh alike, they walk alike,
At times they even talk alike –

Or, more frighteningly, there are the Borg from Star Trek. “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”

But those really refer to uniformity, not unity. Unity is “the state of being united or joined as a whole.” We’re not all assembly line copies of the same thing. We’re different pieces designed to come together as a whole thing that is not just one or another of us, but all of us. There are rules that govern us all, but they aren’t designed to reduce us to Stepford people. Instead, it brings together a community.

Instead of fearing or resenting unity, we should actively seek our place in it.


source: https://lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/thepattydukeshowlyrics.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more