Psalm 133:1 –
How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!
This hits home in more ways than one! I can think back to my childhood and how my sister and I would fight and drive my mother up the wall. Or if I was in an argument with one of you kids, the house was never calm. Or look at the two ideologies that a clashing in the USA today, no one seems happy. Or look at the Middle East and how three religions are at odds; there are even conflicts with each religion causing strife. So the concept of living in “harmony” is difficult to achieve.
Let’s just take a look at an arena we can relate to, our homes. When there are issues nothing seems to go well. Working together on projects becomes a chore and filled with bickering. The “dinner table” becomes silent and most of the time empty. Now if there are issues we never see or hear from you for days! But when in Harmony, things run smoothly and your life seems to be in sync with everything around you.
So how does one reach that point? Well not “digging in” is one. Sure there will always be differences in families, communities and nations, but when we determine it’s “our way or the highway” that is when conflict erupts. Now we get into a sticky area and that is when one is truly wrong, what’s the solution? Should we just all get along as one group self-destructs or do we “dig in” and help? Most of the time where this occurs is when “helping” digresses into condemning.
This is something I get jaded on and often wonder if it’s possible at all. Look at the abortion debate, both sides cannot come to terms. The “pro-life” side believes the fetus is a life and therefore you are committing murder aborting the child. The “pro-choice” side believe it’s a woman’s right to decide what happens with her body. The only way it “works” is to say the fetus has not yet developed into a child and therefore it’s not murder. There is no common ground and both cannot be argued alone. So how do the two groups live “harmoniously”? This can be applied to so many aspects of our world, so you can see why I am “jaded” about this ever happening. Go back to the conflicts within the religions, be it Catholic and Protestant or Shi’a and Sunni, there is internal strife which has led to killing in the name of religion. You can see how difficult this simple Psalm is to actually transpire!