Unity - Life Forever

I love Psalm 133 - Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!  Or in Hebrew:

Henei ma tov umanaim
Shevet achim gam yachad
Sinei ma tov umanaim
Shevet achim gam yachad

This morning I was listening to a devotion someone on the radio was giving concerning social networking like Facebook, etc.  He used that to  parlay into making the point that we are not who we are in and of ourselves....we are who we are as a combination of who we "network with."  Or to put it another way, we are the sum total of all of the influences we've received (and will receive) from our friends, family, and acquaintances.  As I thought about that I remembered Psalm 133 and what G-d had to say through David about the excellency of brotherly (or sisterly) unity.  According to the Psalmist unity is as precious as the annointing oil falling down Aaron's beard and the dew of Hermon coming down from the mountains of Zion - because that is where the L-rd commanded the blessing.....Life Forever! 

We can choose this life by choosing to follow G-d's Torah (Ex 30:19-20)  And Yeshua said this one commandment sums up the entire Torah, "Love your neighbor as yourself."  We cannot do that if we are an island unto ourself.  We need people and they need us:  we need each other.

Have you ever thanked G-d for the people He has put in your path?  Not just the people that were easy to love or made you feel good about yourself....but all of the people from teachers you loathed and friends who irritated or let you down.  G-d uses all things to speak to us if we will just listen.

I had a teacher in high school that I had a love/hate relationship with.  I loved English and writing and she fed that love as any good English teacher can do.  But she was a no-nonsense kind of person.  Looking back on it I realize she probably had faced some very big difficulties in her life because she was somewhat cynical.  Her cynicism however, held a lot of truth and that truth is what was the throrn in my side but has influenced my life to this day.  One thing she said I have never forgotten was this:  "Fairness is for the playground."  I had shared that experience with my husband years ago and he frequently reminds me of that because fairness is something I have demanded, searched for, felt entitled to and have gotten frustrated over not seeing in this world.  Hence, the irritating truth that this phrase held for me.  But the subject of fairness is for another post.  I used this little story to illustrate how G-d can use people whom we do not necessarily 'gel with' to mold us into who He wants us to be.

So next time you get alone with G-d, reflect on all of the people in your life currently or in the past who have contributed to who and what you are in G-d.  And bless Him for it.  Pray and ask G-d to use you in someone else's life and you will discover "how good and how pleasant it is to dwell together in unity" with all of G-d's children.

Shalom