The Real Thing

It seems like one way we hope to make an ideal world is by making things more homogeneous. A way of thinking where race is inconsequential, age is unimportant, one’s sex is minor, and no culture is dominant. Wouldn’t we love to be considered for a job where truthfully none of those qualifiers were part of the decision? Wouldn’t we love to remove all of those barriers when we see someone by their external features only? Wouldn’t we love to have an equal share for all, where no one is greater than another? Wouldn’t we love to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony?

I'd like to teach the world to sing (Sing with me)
In perfect harmony (Perfect harmony)
I'd like to buy the world a Coke
And keep it company
(That's the real thing)
…And I'd like to buy the world a Coke
And keep it company (It's the real thing)
I'd like to buy the world a coke
(Coke is what the world wants today)
And keep it company (Coca-Cola)

There we go again… We can’t seem to stop ourselves. We either exploit the idea for a business proposition (before the next person), or create a standardized population that becomes the plot of a science-fiction nightmare. In that story there remains a corruptible bureaucracy of oversight that thinks for the masses. We just can’t get the idea right on our own.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You alone can see us as our true self, your beloved child. You don’t have favorites; you love each one for our unique gifts and our distinctive personalities. May we find the same irresistible qualities in each other that you find in each one of us. Let us encourage the talents of our neighbors and embrace the unique individualities that supplement one another, building a stronger community that can serve you more creatively and completely. Let us adopt the connective greeting from the Orthodox Church: “The Christ in me greets the Christ in you.” The only way to see each other more purely is to see the pure Christ in each one. Remind us that the world's harmony cannot be found in a jingle or a manifesto, but by living in want of you, and living in the shadow of Christ. Amen.