THE WORLD population, currently 7.7 billion is expected to increase by 2 billion persons in the next thirty years, reaching up to 9.7 billion in 2050 says the United Nations. Along with this exponential growth of the population comes an incredibly widening diversity. More than 5,000 ethnic groups, i.e. groups of people with common cultural background and who often tend towards common foods and religious practices have been documented as far back as 1998 by Scientific America.  

New York City, commonly called the Melting Point of the World or the Capital of the World with her population of about 8,337,000 as of July 2019 according to the United States Census Bureau is home to over 1000 cultural organizations;(Schonfeld R.C and Sweeney L: Diversity in New York City, 2016); speaking over 800 languages.

Worldwide we speak over 5000 different languages and our religious beliefs are as diverse as benthic fauna and flora. Over 4,200 religions have been identified globally according to Adherents.com published by US Library of Congress.

We are all submerged in our different beliefs, cultural orientation, ethos and pathos of our personalities and driven in our actions and perceptions of events.  Individually our volition is a facsimile of our inner core: our ego, molded and conditioned by the effervescence of our environment, our culture and the structure of our myriads of beliefs, among others.

Are we too diverse for unity?

Individually, we cannot but be different from one another. But man is meant to live in harmony despite our differences.  As creatures called homo sapiens, we may be about 99.9 percent similar in our genetic constitution as science taught us, yet no matter how identical a set of twins are, their fingerprints would always be different.  As we see in the physical, so also holds true for that which is non-physical, the spiritual.

We now know through the special grace of the Almighty that, here on earth human beings at different levels of spiritual maturity are given a much, needed opportunity to co-exist and develop.  We thus cannot but be of different opinions and perceptions on many issues of life.

But unity does not mean an agreement on everything.

Unity is working together to make life better for us all. Unity demands that one calls the essence of these Words: “Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself” which issued out of Divine Wisdom to life within one’s being, making it the staff upon which the totality of one’s being rests.  

A strive for unity calls for an unalloyed consideration for the welfare of others in our deliberations and decisions, thus giving room for compromise whenever necessary.  Disharmony cannot but flare up where there is oppression, selfishness, suppression of others’ will, a disregard for others their needs and the likes.

The meadow is full of different kinds of flowers, each with petals of various sizes and colors but complementing each other to produce the visual beauty and a collective invitation for rest,  recuperation and a quiet, self-communion; every flower, every petal contributing harmoniously in its own unique nature to this ability of the whole.  

Naturally, ugliness and disharmony arise if one petal undergoes a distortion and lies askew over another such that it is usurping the place of the other.  

Thus, disharmony cannot but occur when there is a distortion of the Natural Laws by human beings. And it’s only a distortion in a Being created in the image of the Creator that can enable an urge to oppress, cheat and impose one’s will on another, for such cannot be associated with a Being who remains an image of his Creator. But the nature of the human spirit does not permit a dull submission to an imposition or oppression from another; for submission is alien to the human spirit. Hence oppression, imposition and the likes are usually met with resistance. Disunity cannot but results. Of course, lies, deception, distortion of facts and the likes for any reason are detrimental to the very notion of unity.

Like the flowers in the meadow, the different races and ethnic groups are meant to develop side by side in harmony, none discriminating or assuming superiority over the other. Within every ethnic group and every race there are distinctive talents and abilities, intrinsic to the race. No race rates higher than the other in the scheme of things, but all are of equal value to the development of mankind. Tapping on each other’s talents as complements, the larger human race is meant to develop in harmony.

A house full of children, each of a different personality and abilities never feels the same and complete when one of them leaves the house.

In their diversity, each member of the household contributes individually to the predominant ambient. There would always be a recall of joyful, happy ambient in association with the unique nature of each member of the household, which cannot but evoke nostalgia.

The talents in each ethnic group and race are indeed meant to draw our attention to the outstanding value and exceptional importance of each race to a joyful co-existence of all.    

The earth offers the necessary conditions for the development of our talents and abilities, individually as well as for the ethnic groups and races.  In our diversity also lies a great opportunity to learn from one another and better our personalities and ultimately the society at large without being judgmental, for none of us is perfect.

No doubt the world is in disarray with many of us burning with yearnings for unity in the midst of this disarray. This cannot but be, for disharmony is not Willed by the Most High. Hence those who bear the longing for the Will of the Father among us cannot but wish fervently for unity.

We can indeed have unity in our diversity, but man must respect man and bear the welfare of his neighbor at heart in his thoughts, words and deed. For this we have a gift of an immeasurable value in the Words:

“Love thy Neighbor as Thyself.”                       

This is the key to all.

                                                                                             @Leo

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             Too Diverse for Unity?