156 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
156 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
Unity And Community
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World Scripture
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UNITY AND COMMUNITY
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Individuals and families function within the context of a community, which in
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turn functions within a larger society, nation, and world. The individual's
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and family's well-being is bound up with the community's well-being, and
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likewise its well-being is inseparable from the peace and prosperity of the
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society, the nation, and ultimately, the world. Religious precepts undergird
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community by teaching the virtues of cooperation, friendship, justice, and
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public-mindedness. These create the spirit of unity by which community can
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thrive and prosper.
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This section deals specifically with the theme of unity. The opening texts
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indicate that unity is first of all a gift of grace--a manifestation of the
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oneness of Ultimate Reality--reconciling those who would otherwise be enemies.
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The passages that follow call for unity among all members of the
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community--even to the unity of all humanity--and condemn divisions. The
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section concludes with passages which use the metaphors of a building and of
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the human body to depict the varieties of tasks and social roles which should
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mutually support each other to build a united community.
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Israel's reconciliation with God can be achieved only when they are all one
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brotherhood.
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1. Judaism. Talmud, Menahot 27a
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The believers indeed are brothers; so set things right between your two
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brothers, and fear God; haply so you will find mercy.
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2. Islam. Qur'an 49.10
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3. Happy is the unity of the Sangha.
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Happy is the discipline of the united ones.
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3. Buddhism. Dhammapada 194
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4. I do not pray for these [my disciples] only, but also for those who believe
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in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art
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in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may
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believe that thou hast sent me.
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4. Christianity. Bible, John 17.20-21
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Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it
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will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are
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gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
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5. Christianity. Bible, Matthew 18.19-20
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If two sit together and the words between them are of Torah, then the Shechinah
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is in their midst.
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6. Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 3.2
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And when a company meets together in one of the houses of God to pore over the
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Book of God and to study it together among themselves, the Shechinah comes down
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to them and mercy overshadows them, the angels surround them, and God remembers
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them among them that are His.
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7. Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 36
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Behold, how good and pleasant it is
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when brothers dwell in unity!
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It is like the precious oil upon the head,
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running down upon the beard,
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upon the beard of Aaron,
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running down on the collar of his robes!
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It is like the dew of Hermon,
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which falls on the mountains of Zion!
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For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
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life for evermore.
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8. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalm 133
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Hold fast, all together, to God's rope, and be not divided among yourselves.
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Remember with gratitude God's favor on you, for you were enemies and He joined
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your hearts in love, so that by His grace you became brethren. You were on the
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brink of the fiery Pit, and He saved you from it. Thus does God make His signs
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clear to you, that you may be guided.
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Let there arise out of you one community, inviting to all that is good,
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enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: those will be
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prosperous. Be not be like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall
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into disputations after receiving clear signs: for them is a dreadful penalty.
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9. Islam. Qur'an 3.103-5
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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John 17.20-21: This is Jesus' prayer for the church to be united, as a
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testimony to the world of God's presence in him. Cf. 1 John 4.12-13, p. 237;
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Pesikta Rab Kahana, p. 286. Matthew 18.19-20: Compare Qur'an 58.7, p. 110,
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where the same image is used to describe God's omniscience, a third party to
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every secret consultation. Psalm 133: Cf. Pearl of Great Price, Moses 7.18, p.
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287.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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It is because one antelope will blow the dust from the other's eye that two
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antelopes walk together.
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10. African Traditional Religions. Akan Proverb (Ghana)
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Meet together, speak together,
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let your minds be of one accord,
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as the Gods of old, being of one mind,
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accepted their share of the sacrifice.
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May your counsel be common, your assembly common,
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common the mind, and the thoughts of these united.
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A common purpose do I lay before you,
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and worship with your common oblation.
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Let your aims be common,
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and your hearts of one accord,
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and all of you be of one mind,
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so you may live well together.
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11. Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.191.2-4
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Abruptly he [King Hsiang] asked me, "Through what can the Empire be settled?"
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"Through unity," I said.
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"Who can unite it?"
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"One who is not fond of killing can unite it," I said.
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13. Confucianism. Mencius I.A.6
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Let us have concord with our own people,
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and concord with people who are strangers to us;
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The Divine Twins create between us and the strangers
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a unity of hearts.
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May we unite in our minds, unite in our purposes,
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and not fight against the divine spirit within us.
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Let not the battle-cry arise amidst many slain,
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nor the arrows of the War-god fall with the break of day.
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14. Hinduism. Atharva Veda 7.52.1-2
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Qur'an 3.103-05: God is one unity, and humankind should similarly be united;
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this reconciliation comes through submission to God. The unity of God, the
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unity of spirit and body within the individual, the unity of society, and the
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ideal unity of all reality (cf. Qur'an 2.115, p. 109), are encompassed in the
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Islamic concept of tawhid. Akan Proverb: Doing good to each other is the basis
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of societal unity. Rig Veda 10.191.2-4: Cf. Atharva Veda 3.30, pp. 255f.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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My children, war, fear, and disunity have brought you from your villages to
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this sacred council fire. Facing a common danger, and fearing for the lives of
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your families, you have yet drifted apart, each tribe thinking and acting only
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for itself. Remember how I took you from one small band and nursed you into
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many nations. You must reunite now and act as one. No tribe alone can
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withstand our savage enemies, who care nothing about the eternal law, who sweep
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upon us like the storms of winter
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