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Usually ecumenists talk of 'unity in diversity'. I heard an interview with Jane Chittister, where she suggested 'harmony in diversity' as an alternative. Chittister is an American theologian. What follows are my own reflections (although I might be unconsciously influenced by what she said).
Harmony in diversity seems more dynamic than unity in diversity. Unity in diversity implies we might arrive at a final united state for all the churches. The contradiction in 'unity in diversity' has always bothered me. It feels like diversity is a concession while unity is the real business.
Harmony requires diversity. Nothing we know of creation or of God implies static finality. Our experience of life is change.
Some will say God is unchanging. If God is unchanging, it is only insofar as we conceive of God as embracing the whole of space and time, 'he is the lord of all that is and all that is to be'. But our experience of God is also of change because we encounter God in time and space. Even if eternity is unchanging, what does this mean in practice? If the nature of eternity is change, how can we assert it is in any sense static?
Why is change so important? Ultimately it is about consciousness. We can understand evolution as mindless random change but even so we see matter self-organise into stars and planets and life. Life that in time has become self-aware. So, there is a possibility evolution need no longer be mindless. The pooling of the small consciousness of each particle of matter (that enables it to self-organise) leads to increasing awareness through evolution.
As living creatures become more conscious they shape their environments. Now human beings, through science and prayer, reflect upon the nature of creation and join with God in the creative act.
The implications of this for ecumenism are profound. If we do not encourage harmony in diversity, the alternative might be the stultifying unity we have seen before in Christendom. Self-awareness causes its own contradictions and they will be the theme for the next post in this series.
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