In his letter to the Galatians (3:28), St. Paul wrote: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul was addressing potential divisions within the Church and pointing out that the only way to overcome them was to recognize our unity in Christ.  A similar sentiment is in one of our hymns:

In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north,
but one great fellowship of love
throughout the whole wide earth.

We worry about divisions today, but they have always existed. And as always, the only way to overcome them is to recognize that God is greater than all divisions, to humble ourselves to working together for God’s glory.

These thoughts have special meaning following our joyous celebration on Nigerian Sunday. The liturgy included both the Book of Common Prayer and spiritual songs (with some impressive drumming) in the Nigerian tradition.  We were united in praising God and singing Alleluia.  This is a foretaste of what heaven will be like:  everyone joining together to praise God in eternity