Where is Unity?

The word "unity" has been on my mind for a long time. When I say a long time, I mean about 6 years. It came about at a time of disunity not only in my extended family but in my home church. What I have come to learn in the past 6 years is where true unity exists. I'm not going to go all philosophical on you, because truthfully, I don't have it in me right now. I've learned that unity can be a feeling, not a reality. Where you think unity exists, actually it can be a facade. A relationship that you've nurtured, only to find you've been deceived, betrayed, and lied to. A family member who you've reached out to countless times who still treats you like a stranger. You believe people in church when they hug you and say they care. Well, at least you want to believe that. Until they don't care anymore. Or you don't care anymore because the "unity" is only good on Sundays. My unity? My relationship with God, even on a bad day is the best, most reliable, most significant, most rewarding relationship I have that cannot be broken. Cannot. My relationship with my husband, my best friend, my rock. Honest. Loving. Kind. A real friend. A real person. He has my back. We're unified. Nothing can get in between. My girls. We are three, all of us together, bound by love and an endless commitment to each other. Time may take them away, but we will always be unified. Forever. My parents. Unity. Maybe of the best kind, because without them, I wouldn't be here. Or, as I like to say, I'd be someone else. So it's no surprise to me that true unity exists where you most expect it--at home. Not at work,not at church, not on your team, not at school, not in your best friendship, but at home with your family, and most of all, with God. Wherever I go, I think of that word. Do I just feel disunity, or does it really exist? Am I doing anything to promote unity or am I part of the problem? Imagine if everyone thought that way. Maybe I wouldn't be as disappointed as I am right now, writing this, thinking of those who must pleasure in breaking others down and causing things to break. Not thinking of how they affect others. Maybe not caring. The ripple effect of disunity is farther than people can even imagine. But the ripple effect of unity. Now there's something unbreakable. You'd think we'd all strive for that. But we don't. And I wish I knew why we let the enemy take it from us without a fight. Sorry for the dark words today, but that's exactly what disunity does. It rips into your soul and breaks your heart. And it allows evil to prevail if you let it. Truly, that is the goal of our enemy, to use others to break us down until we give up. I'm not giving up, but I may be looking to change where I've been searching for unity from now on. I guess I'll be home for awhile. Peace to you.