How very good and pleasant it isIt is very good and pleasant when God’s people dwell together in unity. God anoints this with an anointing that runs down the head and over the collar, onto the ground and overflowing the mountains. God does not limit based on those who call God by one name or another.
when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the HOLY ONE ordained blessing,
life for evermore.
I felt this goodness this weekend as Catholic and Protestant, Jew and Moslem, Buddhist and Hindu, Jain and Sikh prayed. I felt the Spirit of God as these holy women and men spoke of their faiths. I know for much of Christianity Christians have believed our sisters and brothers who call God by different names are pagans in need of conversion. But either there is just one God or there isn’t and I believe there is, whatever name you call God by.
I’m convinced Jesus was speaking of these sisters and brothers in John 10:16:
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.And Paul in Romans 2:14:
When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts.My sisters and brothers call God by other names and worship God differently but it is still the same life-giving God. Rather than diminishing God, this is witness that God is too big to be fully described by one faith alone. As these sisters and brothers spoke on Saturday I heard the fruits of the Spirit in our midst.
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