Unity not Uniformity

I love the message of this mock poster. Often those who espouse to believe in "unity" deny that belief by the way that they behave. I think that religious folks can sometimes be the biggest transgressors in this area.. not that I have any first hand knowledge.
Here are a few things that wise people have said on the topic along with my strange and pithy commentary.

"United we stand; divided we fall." -Aesop  [Gotta love the simplicity. I think the heart of unity is all about finding common ground to unite around.]

"The unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy
[I am glad that unity is not based on my opinions because they change so much.]

"Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking." -Mahatma Gandhi  [Commitment will always be tested. Anyone who has been married for any length of time understands this.]

"I know that my unity with all people cannot be destroyed by national boundaries and government orders." -Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy  [The things that unify us are greater than the things that divide us. Focusing on other things create division and strife.]

"I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent." -Nelson Mandela  [Solving problems can unify opponents like nothing else when the focus is on solutions and not problems.]

"The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out." -James Baldwin  [The words "break faith" speak to me about why unity is often so hard.]

"We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers." -Martin Luther King, Jr.  [Unity is an art that can only be learned when we acknowledge another as a brother or sister.]

2 comments:

  1. The poster kinda reminds me of one of our local California
    politicians. San Fransisco D-Rep - Nancy Pelosi. She preaches for bipartisan politics as long as it's her way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Right on "Geezer".
    Interesting post Bob and your comments after the quotes could have been written by my thoughts too.

    ReplyDelete

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