How good and how pleasant it is,
when brothers dwell together as one!
Like dew of Hermon coming down
upon the mountains of Zion.
There the Lord has decreed a blessing,
life for evermore!

Psalm 133:1 and 3

Unity Like the Dew

The rains have stopped. Summer has settled down for some heat. The land, so fruitful after the fire, is dry again.

But still, we have some relief; fog rolls in every evening. It blocks the sun for a few crucial hours, and the day is not as hot as it could be. If we’re lucky, we even get the scent of evaporating dew when we wake up.

Dew is “good and pleasant”. It is so much more than “not dry”. In the same way, unity is so much more than “lack of discord”. That leaves out the true goodness and pleasure of brothers in unity.

The dryness of being alone

Because we are relational beings, we are born into families, come together in communities, cities, and countries. We strive for the good together. We try to achieve unity of vision, unity of purpose, unity of method. All unity.

In order for two or more persons to be united, they have to see something common about themselves. Similar likes, similar backgrounds, similar goals for themselves and their families. When these are absent, the good of unity cannot exist.

Some are among us who sow discord. Don’t let them separate us. They play upon our victimhood to keep us farther apart. They encourage us to be divided into ever smaller “us” and “them”. To combat it, we must see and emphasize our similarities, even to those who disagree with us.

The body must be united in the Spirit

A group of people must be united as one body. What unites a hand to an eye? The oneness of the spirit that enlivens both:

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

If we are to seek unity, we must strive every day for a unity of vision. That unity only comes with truth. We must be true within ourselves, that is, integrated. We must have a true relationship with God, that is, humility. When we are united to truth in this way, we will come to true unity with each other, that is, love. That is the drink which will wash away loneliness.

Unity is a foretaste of Heaven

After a long difficult day, where I strove to hide myself from everyone, I gathered for dessert with friends. All day I had only wanted to be alone, but in that gathering, a strange thing happened. As good friends do, we talked about good things. And my thirst was quenched. That gathering was a foretaste of Heaven.

The Lord has decreed a blessing; Life forever!