Thinking about union and its opposite

[Edward_H]

Been thinking lately…two related threads have developed.

1. God desires total union with us. Intimate union, a perfect exchange of love.

So when we do things such as prayer, maintaining our awareness or presence with God, removing attachments (“our stuff”…our egos in our work, our golfing, our houses, our money, our looks, our worries, etc.), our acts of faith, hope, love; removing our vices, strengthening our virtues (so we can give more of ourselves to God and others), removing all forms of selfishness, developing a spirit of sacrifice and selfless generosity, rectifying our intentions (e.g., are we doing things purely for the love of God?), etc. - all these ‘things’ are designed to increase or deepen or purify our union with God, no? All the Catholic devotions and our sacramentals too are encouraging steps toward union. Stations of the Cross, etc.

1. On the other hand, the devil, and through his actions various aspects of society seem bent on dividing, at every turn. Disunion.

For example: separating marriage from children, love from sex, sex from procreation, love from responsibility, and even the separation of our body from our “sexual orientation” - - all of these are various forms of division.

In the last, perhaps controversial example, our very nature is being divided and redefined to include 2 separable “parts”

Division is serving itself, division spurs on more division.

Other forms of dis-union are seen in things like separating rights from responsibility, ones actions from ones responsibility, work from benefits, etc.

And all of these forms of division and disunion have downstream negative consequences that we can see today. The effects of sincere pursuits of unity and love seem to have only positive direct and indirect consequences, as they course through society.

In fact, I wonder whether the “self-esteem” movement is a form of disunion…suggesting that we have something called “esteem” outside of our relation with God…and others…but maybe that’s a stretch. But whatever “self-esteem” we have or should have should be the result of a deep recognition that we are children of God (divine union).

There’s always a creeping wedge in our selves and in society, it seems to me.

 

[svid]

That’s very good; I like it.

I once read of a private revelation in which lost souls in hell are revealed to not only suffer horribly, but believe that they are utterly alone, even if they are in fact with other lost souls. We are made to have each other for comfort and company. Even religious hermits have the Triune God, the Communion of Saints, Guardian and other Holy Angels, and the prayers of the Church Militant every day.