True Unity

How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony! Psalm 133:1

Unity happens when people’s hearts are knit together for a common purpose and when each person’s contribution to that purpose is valued.

One American monument in Kissimmee, Florida, is an illustration of this truth. It was built out of fifteen hundred stones from the lower forty-eight states and twenty-three foreign countries. It was completed in 1943 and is called the Monument of the States. The idea behind the structure was to use stones from many different places, cultures, and belief systems in order to symbolize friendship among the states of the union and among the nations of the world.

Conceived by Dr. Charles D. Bressler-Pettis, the structure itself took years to materialize. On a twelve-year tour of the States and the rest of the world, the doctor collected many unusual stones with unusual stories. For example, he found a fragment of rock from the original foundation of the Washington Monument and stones from the walls of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Hyde Park estate.^a

Just as Dr. Bressler-Pettis collected an amazing diversity of stones to include in his monument, our God has “collected” an amazing diversity of people to make up his kingdom. Each of us brings into the kingdom our own unique set of skills and gifts, and for that reason, each of us has something to offer.

The exciting task before each of us is to find out what kind of “stone” we are to be in the wall we call God’s kingdom.

Oh Lord, help me to neither undervalue nor overvalue my worth in your kingdom.