WEEK 4: "CHOOSING WITH CHRIST TO LOVE THE WORLD"

These words of Merton were quoted in this week's chapter:
“If the Lord of all took flesh and sanctified nature, restoring it to the Father by His resurrection, we too have our work to do in extending the power of the resurrection to the whole world of our time by our prayer, our thought, our work, and our whole life.”

“The Cross…reminds us of the contradictions within ourselves, and within our society, only in order to resolve them all in unity in love of the Savior.”

“False unity is the work of force. It is violently imposed on divided entities which stubbornly refuse to be one. True unity is the work of love. It is the free union of beings that spontaneously seek to be one in the truth, preserving by self-transcendence. True unity admits the presence of obstacles, and of divisions, in order to over both by humility and sacrifice.” (p. 37)

True unity—what a wondrous idea.
What does it look like in my life, in my family, in my nation, our world? Can I even envision such?
Perhaps what it is not is where to begin. It is not homogeneous—we don’t all act as automans. Even within, the paradoxes must stay, woven together, adding brilliance and interest. Bland this unity is not! It is not just compromise; I give a little, you do too and what results is a hodgepodge with little real identity. That’s not real unity though necessary at times within the realm of human only existing. It is not one winner and all the rest losers following along. Dominance and love seem incompatible.

Can we see at all then what true unity is? The work of love Merton describes?
Maybe if we look at the skies—the clouds, the blue, the movement—all together make the heavens glorious. Even on a stormy day the entirety is needed to be one. Perhaps even both together, the clear sunny day and the rain soaked lightening struck sky, describe the free transcendent truth Merton announces. Maybe if we shrink down to view a small patch of grass we will know the reality of true unity. Each single blade, unique, yet together they form a soft lush lawn. Our bodies, as St. Paul says, are made of multiple parts each necessary for the whole. Without a healthy heart or foot the whole surely suffers; we walk limp or breathless.

So like a jigsaw puzzle the unity, the completed picture cannot be seen unless every piece takes its correct place. Forcing one piece into another’s hole only slows the process of solving and distorts the final image.
So what are the obstacles and division we must overcome by “humility and sacrifice” and what are the separatenesses we must preserve in self-transcendence?

Blessings
Caroline