© 2023 Chuck Thurston
© 2023 The Urantia Book Fellowship
| Unity Not Uniformity | Volume 23, Number 1, 2023 (summer) — Index | Think Alike—Necessary or Unnecessary? |
by Chuck Thurston
How do we achieve spiritual unity without falling into the trap of social uniformity?
The essential difference, I think, between spiritual unity and social uniformity is best seen in the contrasting qualities of personal interaction that are associated with each. Unity is a principle that governs dynamic interactions, while uniformity describes a static condition of sameness. Spiritual unity nourishes the creative freedom of the individual, and releases the “spontaneous, generous, and sincere friendliness which characterizes the spirit-born sons of the living God.” (UB 180:5.12)
Before going on, let’s look at some important definitions:
- Principle: A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs, values, behavior, or for a chain of reasoning.
- Condition: The state of a thing or circumstance with regard to its appearance, quality, function, or working order.
- Unity: United or joined as a whole, complete in itself. Oneness, agreement, harmony, accord.
- Uniformity: The quality or fact of being the same; or of not changing; or being different in any way, overall sameness, homogeneity, or regularity.
- Standard: An ideal or set of criteria that establishes a level of quality or attainment, which can then be used for purposes of evaluation.
- Practice: Actual performance or application of an idea, belief, or principle, as opposed to theories relating to it. An act or method followed with regularity.
- Virtue: Moral excellence, goodness, or righteousness. Conduct inspired by moral and ethical principles, uprightness, or rectitude.
- Ethos: The characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs, principles, and value aspirations.
Principles are given great importance in The Urantia Book:
Presently new systems of values come into existence; new formulations of principles and standards are achieved; habits and ideals are reshaped. . . (emphasis added) (UB 101:7.3)
He told the three apostles that he was concerned only with the principles of man’s inner and personal spiritual life. (emphasis added) (UB 140:8.9)
His instruction embraces the ideal principles of living near God in all ages and on all worlds. (emphasis added) (UB 140:8.2)
Principles inspire a dynamic sense of possibility and direction, but they don’t predetermine outcomes. Rules and laws, on the other hand, are meant to be obeyed. They produce a common ground of enforced predictability where certain behaviors are concerned. This has long been a practical necessity, as can be seen in the moral codes of ancient civilizations.
Principles have a completely different function. An enlightened principle points the way to a realm of discovery that is consistent with the values that frame the principle. In that sense, principles are more like an invitation to explore and experiment, while under the auspices of specific value guidance.
Principles are a crucial factor in the achievement of spiritual unity, both for the individual and for the community. The achievement of spiritual unity is an outcome that emerges from a developmental pattern that is set in motion by principles. Here are some of the stages that I’ve identified, which seem to be essential to the development of spiritual unity:
- Values are recognized and provide overarching guidance.
- Principles are formulated from values that are recognized as desirable.
- Standards become associated with principles.
- Practices are a way of testing new principles and standards in the laboratory of lived experience.
- Habits are established as a result of successful practices.
- Virtues are qualities of spiritual character that have become habitual through practice.
- Virtues and principles that are expressed consistently within a community (like the fruits of the spirit) become the ethos of that community.
- A community is unified by individual loyalty to its defining ethos.
- If the ethos of a community includes voluntary individual responsibility for the good of the whole, the unity potential of that ethos can expand to include ever greater conceptions of the whole. This can reach from small communities to nations, and even to the culture of the entire planet. This loyalty relationship between the individual and the whole will eventually extend to the Supreme, the unifier of the universes of time and space.
While spiritual unity can be seen as a principle unto itself (according to the above definition), its achievement is accomplished through the implementation of many other unity principles. From a philosophical perspective, whenever we have a problem with disunity, it makes sense to look for remedies in the study and application of relevant unity principles and unity practices.
Value agreements are a good place to start. Loyalty to spiritual values produces inherently unifying consequences. Goodness, for example, is a primary spiritual value. If the practice of the principle of overcoming evil with good becomes widespread, it will establish a community that is unified by shared commitment to this high standard.
All types of agreements can create unity, but agreements about values and principles are especially important because they bring a harmonizing influence to other areas of consideration (like beliefs and opinions) where agreement may be difficult or impossible to achieve. We all see things differently, but that shouldn’t prevent us from enjoying mutual respect—in spite of our differences—so long as we remain unified in spirit, which follows naturally from our spiritual value agreements and shared commitment to principles.
Love for Jesus is one of our highest levels of value recognition, and this also becomes a powerful unifying influence when it inspires our love for each other.
Your personalities may be refreshingly diverse and markedly different, while your spiritual natures and spirit fruits of divine worship and brotherly love may be so unified that all who behold your lives will of a surety take cognizance of this spirit identity and soul unity; they will recognize that you have been with me and have thereby learned, and acceptably, how to do the will of the Father in heaven. (emphasis added) (UB 141:5.2)
Our potential for spiritual unity comes from our individual relationships with God, even though each of these relationships is unique. While our personalities are unique, the Thought Adjuster essence that we see in others is the same spirit presence that we find within ourselves.
The unity of religious experience among a social or racial group derives from the identical nature of the God fragment indwelling the individual. (UB 103:1.1)
If we turn to other unity principles that support greater spiritual unity, near the top of the list would be the principle of individual responsibility for the good of the whole. Anything we can offer that is truly good for the whole will also bring benefit to ourselves and others, and when the individual truly benefits, the whole becomes stronger. Loyal commitment to our relationship with the whole is inherently and profoundly unifying in its implications.
As moves the part, so moves the whole. (UB 12:7.11)
Throughout the universe, every unit is regarded as a part of the whole. Survival of the part is dependent on cooperation with the plan and purpose of the whole, the wholehearted desire and perfect willingness to do the Father’s divine will. (UB 3:5.15)
The Father’s will can also be seen as a principle unto itself. From the definition above, the Father’s will can clearly be recognized as both a “fundamental truth” and a “proposition that serves as the foundation for beliefs, values, behavior, and chains of reasoning.”
Truth, beauty, goodness, and love can also be understood as principles that function in much the same way. One could even say that they are our highest principles of divine value. They are the value-principles that enable our recognition and support of divinity. They guide and inspire our spirit-led aspirations.
Here are a few more unity principles that can be employed as practices in support of the achievement of greater spiritual unity:
- worship
- loyalty
- harmony
- integrity
- purpose
- mastery
- leadership
- determination
- coordination
- cooperation
- continuity
- completion
- attunement
- coherence
- friendliness
- good cheer
Many more could be added to this list, but these examples will hopefully provide food for thought. The outcome that I always hope for is that our community, even while largely invisible to the world, will grow in its development of a recognizable ethos that combines individual freedom and initiative with spiritual unity. As Jesus put it, those who we encounter will begin to recognize that we have been with him.
¶ References
- Article obtained from The Fellowship site
| Unity Not Uniformity | Volume 23, Number 1, 2023 (summer) — Index | Think Alike—Necessary or Unnecessary? |