Thursday May 21, 2026

John 17:20-26

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

‘Holy Father,

I pray not only for these,

but for those also

who through their words will believe in me.

May they all be one.

Father, may they be one in us,

as you are in me and I am in you,

so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.

I remember writing a paper during my studies in South Africa about unity not uniformity. I don’t even remember if I was assigned the topic or we all had to write it. Our differences are really what makes the salad bowl of living beings beautiful to behold and have. Think how boring a world would be if we were exactly the same in every way. This is why I call out to you to sing your song, live your life out loud. Because when we take ourselves out of the mix, the world misses out on the beauty that God wants to add to this world at this time.

Our Lord prays that his disciples be one. Why pray for something that would be so obvious. Well maybe when you get close enough things were not as smooth sailing as we might think. The tribal differences were too entrenched, the politics were intense (church politics is brutal). So he prays that we find a way to see the good in each other. I remember how happy mama was when we as a family got along. There is seven of us and meeting us you would question if we all come from the same womb. We are as far as the east is from the west and sometimes it feels like the bond that keeps us together will snap anytime. Find a way to make your bonds strong and stronger.

Remember Mr. Marley and the song he left for us …”One Love…” In the end, all we have is each other. My charge to you is “Find a way to be one again!!!”