Week 1: Unity
The unity – the oneness – of the Christian faith is a key emphasis in Black Spirituality. However, from the earliest days, Christians have often lost sight of the God who St Paul declares “is above all and through all and in all”. We look this week at how all God’s people might grow in unity and wholeness.
Prayer for the Week
Holy and mighty Trinity, teach us of your oneness. Give us grace to see the ways in which we reject the unity you desire in favour of division and conflict. Amen.
The oneness of God
Week 1: Monday
Reading
Colossians 1.15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Reflection
The poetic language of Colossians 1 that describes the nature of Christ and the nature of God points to the deep truth of Christianity, also echoed in the other Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Islam: God is one. God, alone, is God.
Christianity has wrestled with this for the first few centuries of the Church’s life, and the ancient doctrine of the Trinity was developed: God is one God in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our reading from Colossians brings us to the deep mystery that “in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”. African and African Caribbean spiritual traditions always begin from this place of the oneness of God. God’s life is present in all of creation, God’s very image within every human being.
Watch
Be aware every person you meet today is loved by God, is made in God's image.
...and pray
for God's Holy Spirit to dwell within you and guide you.
Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.