Unanimity or nothing?

I used to think that one mind required absolute unanimity. That the one mind of Zion meant that every thought, acted, and believed all to be the same. 

I’ve been wrong.

One purpose. One goal. One mission. That was the military. And I’ve yet to see a more diverse group of individuals getting work done than I saw in the Army. It shouldn’t have surprised me. But that range of experience, skills, and thought were what made things so successful. It feels almost contradictory that a force with such a singular focus and amount of regulation would work best with a variety of ideas and approaches.

I think it’s more common than not. I served in two missions with a variety of missionaries and two different leaders with different approaches. And we did amazing work. In both places.

That’s the continuity I’ve noticed. The variety of approaches. 

I worry that we’ve reached a point of wanting absolutism in religion, politics, and our circles. 

That’s a dangerous place. One that we seem to celebrate. The volatility of it all.

If people delete or mute me for things I post (especially political or religious) I get it. But it’s still sad. I hate the idea that we glorify the destruction of friendships and relationships in this era.

We’re going to disagree. Often vehemently. And we need to do it better. 

We often have similar goals and desires that might have more in common than we could ever imagine.

We need to spend time existing in our institutions and testing them and their expectations. We need variety, diversity, and we’ll be better for it. Stronger and more capable.

In this time of all or nothing we need to recognize the diversity of our experiences and priorities are our strengths.

Gardens don’t do well with one crop. Orchestras need multiple instruments. A surgeon needs a variety of instruments. 

We are that way in our families, churches, schools, communities, and even nations.

It’s more than normal to keep our closest circles with those who support us most. And that often means a deeper and larger amount of agreement. But the broader the circle of our lives the more we must recognize the variety of those around us. We won’t always agree. But we don’t have to.

Or at least I hope we won’t have to.