Justin Appel
Dear Friends in Christ,
Today’s Gospel lesson centers around Jesus’ prayer to the Father on behalf of those who believe in him ‘through their word’. Jesus asks that ‘they may be one’ — even as he was one with the Father.
What an amazing reality!
Having lived all of my life as a Christian in various Protestant denominations, I suspect that my understanding and embodiment of this truth is impoverished. I say ‘impoverished’, not because I have gained a wise, objective perspective, but rather because my communal sensibility has been shaped by the specific priorities of various communities: emotional expressivity, a ‘personal relationship’, ‘correct’ theology, ‘catholicity’, certain forms of government, etc. I suspect most of us have experience with the spirit of particular traditions.
How difficult it is for us in our various communities to grasp the fullness of this unity! Not only must we gather around a common — yes, even a ‘correct’ — belief in the triune God; we base our unity on God’s love for us, his beloved creatures, and in his command to ‘love one another, even as I have loved you’.
This is the truth I’m only beginning to see, and in ways I didn’t expect. The belief side of this unity seems to be something the saints demonstrate with a ferocity and dedication that seems foreign to my comfortable, domesticated Christianity. On the other hand, their emphasis on common love and humility extends to all people, not just fellow believers, and manifests itself in selfless prayer on behalf of the whole world.
When I read about the saints or hear particularly focused, otherworldly Christians (usually monastics) discuss these things, I feel the huge distance I still need to travel in my spiritual life to experience the unity of Christ’s prayer.
Perhaps, as always, Arvo Pärt’s music can help us grasp this thing called 'unity'. His Summa follows the Latin words of the Creed precisely, giving us both an ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ perspective on belief described within a single musical vocabulary. One understands here that unity involves a story, a journey, in which one travels with a sense of wonder at what one beholds — rather than a jaded self-confirmation — and ‘joy and sadness at the same time’, to summarize Arvo’s own comments regarding the work's interpretation.
Yours in Christ,
Justin