Last week, I was walking through a large store. A silver-haired lady struck up a conversation with me about her cat. I kept looking around to see if she was talking to someone behind me, but there was no one there. I walked a bit farther and another silver-haired lady began telling me about her Christmas décor. In the next few days, a man began a conversation with me about shoes, a lady told me she had just moved, and another gal shared that she was going to have surgery. The only thing we had in common (that I knew of) was the color of our hair. Apparently, I am now a member of the silver-haired club, and we talk to strangers.
There are a lot of people in this world, and we tend to divide ourselves into sub-categories. We don’t care how random or weird our common denominators are, we run into our little groups and somehow it makes us feel safe, or important, or proud, or at home.
We group ourselves by race, gender, education, job titles, hobbies, and almost every other way you can think of. There are sports fan groups, movie fans, co-workers, sorority sisters, personality types, or military branches. Where did you grow up? There’s another group. What is your favorite food? Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Are you right-handed or a leftie? I could fill a page just on the ways people separate themselves nowadays.
And, as much as these little groups make us feel accepted and comforted, it’s also a bit sad.
GettyImages | Kobus Louw
God didn’t mean for it to be this way when He created our world. There was one garden and a beautiful unity between man, woman, plants, and animals. Boy, we messed that up quickly, didn’t we?
We separated ourselves into groups: hunters, gatherers, people of faith and people without faith, one group against the other and everyone fighting each other for power and superiority.
Today, the separations are uncountable and cut deeply. We use any and every excuse to fall away and start a new group. Whenever someone tells me about yet another subgroup they’ve developed, I always joke, “Are there team jackets for that?” It has gotten that ridiculous.
Personally, I love things that bring us together. Have you ever been to a concert where everyone there is enjoying the same music? That feeling of unity is so precious. I remember once taking my mom to a Broadway show. The curtain rose and we both burst into tears. We just couldn’t contain the joy that the feeling of camaraderie brought us. Perhaps you had an amazing experience in college where you clicked with the people you lived with, or a wonderful job with loving co-workers. Hopefully, you have felt joy and connection with the people you worship with. I believe all of these special moments in our lives are precursors to the unbelievable joy of the unity we will have in heaven. I can’t even wrap my head around what that level of camaraderie will be like, no more sub-groups, no more “us-against-them”, just all of us truly together for the first time ever.
But, before that happens, we have this:
“The father shall be divided against the son and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Luke 12:53
Our Father knew it would be this way. I feel awful that He had to watch His perfect creation splinter into all the factions that we have today.
I remember when I was younger. When I heard about the separations that would happen at the end times, I thought, “Well, at least I will be on the good side.” I felt a bit haughty and proud. Not anymore. I am overwhelmed by the deep sorrow I feel when I see all the different groups we have in this world. It hurts my heart more than I ever imagined it could.
I know that I’ve contributed to categorizing people into sub-groups and I’ve joined my fair share of them. I am, after all, a left-handed, Norwegian, introverted, highly sensitive, creative, diabetic, chocolate-loving, chubby, silver-haired, Nana, mom, and wife (plus, MANY more things I haven’t mentioned). But won’t it be nice when we identify only as children of God and spend eternity worshipping Him with EVERYONE else in heaven?
I, for one, can’t wait.
“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:1-6
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