Unity

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 9 BCP 230)

This past Wednesday evening we started the joint NWPA and WNY Digital Camp program with the youth of both dioceses. Our theme this year is Unity. Being the first year we are in partnership together and the first time we are doing things with the youth of both dioceses, we thought the theme of "Unity" would be appropriate. 

I have been pondering the idea of unity for some time now. Not only is unity a good theme for our Camp youth, but in light of the racial tensions going on, the on-going pandemic, and the juxtaposition of the celebration of the 1776 Declaration of Independence from the British as a unity of states in America, the question of what it means to be united is very pertinent right now. The definition of unity says, 'the state of being one, or a whole,' which means that when we describe ourselves as unified in any way, we consider ourselves as part of a whole. 

Being part of a whole means that when any member of the whole is hurt or not working together, the whole is not whole. Being part of a whole means that we need each other in the whole, not for any particular reason, but because without one member, we are no longer whole. We believe in the Trinity, an unity of three, a wholeness of three. Without one part, the Trinity cannot be the Trinity. Without each other, we cannot be in unity. As an unity in community with our sisters and brothers (and unity is directly in the word community!), we cannot be whole without each other. This weekend, as we celebrate, may we all realize how much we need each other.