This morning, I read Psalm 133 as part of my morning Bible readings. The first verse jumped out at me - "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!"
I remember reading this verse years ago at a house in Charlottesville, VA at UVA. A group of guys lived in the house and they had this verse in a visible place for all to read. I have always read that verse through the lens of the college experience of "brothers" living together in unity. In that context, the brothers were roommates in a college rental house.
Years later (this morning to be exact), this verse means something else to me. David wrote the Psalm and the translation I have refers to brothers. If I apply the verse to a marriage and family context, then I am challenged to consider what this means for my marriage and family.
What does it look like for a marriage and family to "live together in unity"?
On the surface, that seems like a question with obvious answers. The reality, however, is that achieving unity with a diverse set of individuals (different genders, different generations, different temperments, different likes/dislikes, etc) can be very challenging.
Did you notice the word "different" in that list?
So what does living together in unity mean for a family? Does it simply mean that everyone agrees on everything? Does everyone have to think the same on every subject and decision? Does it mean that the everyone is working together and serving on another?
The answer to the questions, "What does it look like for a family live together in unity?" and "How can this be accomplished on a daily basis?" are important.
David claims that it is "good and pleasant" when this is the case.
I know that I would like to taste and experience having a "good and pleasant" home, wouldn't you?
If you are reading this (and I don't expect many to read this since I haven't blogged much in ages), then please feel free to leave a comment (here or on Facebook) regarding how you work toward "living together in unity" in your marriage and families.
1 comment:
Generally whenever I read anything in the Bible about families, I interpret it as God saying yet again that I need to get my butt off the couch and spend some time with my kids. The way you frame the question though is good. Living together in unity means that our world is not the adult world that gets interrupted inconveniently time and time again by the kid world. We have to compromise and spend some of our road-trips listening to the "Wheels on the Bus" and "Hot Cross Buns" rather than just throwing in some Beck and telling the boys to suck it up.
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