Finding Common Ground: The Divine Power of Unity in Diversity

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” ~ Maya Angelou

My blog post yesterday spoke about the importance of being intentional about focusing on the Cross. When this happens, the Spirit of God shows up and shows out.  

https://www.edupreneurialtheologian.com/blog/the-cross-how-a-missing-woman-brought-a-community-together

I have witnessed God do this time and time again. This is why I teach, preach, and write the way I do. Because I was intentional, I have seen God bring people of diverse backgrounds and diverse thought processes together in the same house. Because I was intentional, I saw my algorithm change for a day because people coming together once again for a common purpose. Instead of seeing a bunch of bickering, I saw over 4000 people having access to the message that I was trying to convey. None of my sermons that were confined between the four walls of church buildings ever saw those type of results of reaching the masses with a message about God. This is the power of the Spirit of God because of being intentional about bringing people together.

The Ancestor suggested that we teach our children the beauty of diversity at an early age. I know that was her wisdom speaking. Even though I grew up in Pulaski on the North End, one of my closest friends in school while growing up was named Anand Patel. Every once in a while, I think about him, Frank, Aaron, and me playing paper football in the gym of Pulaski Elementary School while waiting on Bus 38 to come pick us up. We had some good times back then. This took place over 30 years ago, but I still remember the joy that we shared. Maybe it was this friendship in elementary school that has always been a part of me to make sure people felt included despite their perceived otherness. I hated (and still do) to see the person who did not fit into the crowd look like they were being left out. I remember getting teased because I became friends with a girl who some of the other kids made fun of because she didn’t have what we had from a material standpoint. I didn’t look at this as a spiritual experience then, but I know now that the Spirit of God was present.

I had the pleasure of doing a podcast episode with my good brother Anthony and Rabbi Alana Suskin a few years ago. On that episode, Rabbi Alana said something that has stayed with me to help me to better understand what Dr. James Cone and Dr. Raymond Carr taught me several years ago. I don’t remember her exact wording, but you can listen in the link below. However, she suggested that an ordinary mundane moment can turn into a sacred moment when the Creator’s Spirit is invited into the midst.

https://www.edupreneurialtheologian.com/podcasts/the-edupreneurial-theologian-podcast/episodes/2148162561

Even though I have only met the Rabbi through a conversation on a computer screen, I have a lot of respect for her ministry because she not only fights against Anti-Semitism but she also fights against Islamaphobia. She is a living witness that shows some of us in American Christianity that this narrative being pushed on us by some of our pulpits and media is a false one that says that we have to take sides and that we cannot be for humanity as a whole.

This narrative of power that is suggesting that diversity, equity, and inclusion is an evil agenda is clearly a narrative that is not rooted in the teachings of Luke in the Book of Acts. If one takes time to sit down, study, and meditate on what happened in just Acts 2, he/she will understand that our term (DEI) is Spiritual. It is Spirit ordained. The problem is those in power want to stay in power to seek to control the masses. If you missed my blog about this, you can find it here:

https://www.edupreneurialtheologian.com/blog/staying-spiritually-aware-tips-for-detecting-evil-influences

However, I want to end by telling evil spirits that you cannot stop what God has ordained. God has ordained the diverse unity of people in the Kingdom. If we are going to be Kingdom Builders, we have to learn to cultivate situations for the Spirit of God to come in to do the Will of God. This means we have to do like the old sermon that said, “We are going to preach the Hell out of people and the Heaven into them.” In the words of the Elder, Ms. Shirley Ceasar, “Satan, we’re going to tear your kingdom down.” We are going to do it by focusing on the diverse unity of the Kingdom so we can experience the beauty and power of the Creator of the Universe.