Diversity

Through him
With him
And in him
In the unity of the Holy Spirit
All glory and honor is yours
Almighty Father
Forever and ever. Amen.
(doxology after the Eucharistic prayer)

In John 17, Jesus prays for his disciples, and he prays for us. He prayed, “so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us.” Continuing he prayed, “I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.”

Jesus’ prayer is filled
with the hope of the unity
of all of us
of all the world.
Despite our differences
and in spite of our differences
that we may come together
in unity to live
as a community
of believers
who care for and love each other.

We have different gifts, different likes, different opinions, different religions, different cultures, different biologies. God made us a diverse world. If we can use our differences and come together to take care of each other, we would realize Christ’s hope, his dream. Jesus’ prayer would become reality, and we would all live in the Kingdom of God.

What does that "coming together as one" look like? Well, it begins with tolerance and understanding then grows into acceptance and love of others who are different than you. Can you embrace diversity?

That is what Christ prayed for and hoped for. That we would all be one. Can you do your part to make the Kingdom of God a reality?