One

From one ancestor . . . 

 - From Acts 17

I would guess that it's the dream of all parents, that their children get along. I can think of no higher blessing in life, to be at the end of your days, with the same spouse you started out with, having outlived both of your parents, and having none of your children precede you in death; and being able to have all of your children - - - all of your descendants - - - gathered together with you, for special occasions. Maybe even, to have them all present when you are on your final deathbed.

I should say . . . all good parents . . . for not all people desire such a thing, and if they don't, I would hesitate to call them good. Any other aspiration above this, bespeaks a person whose perspective on life is flawed and unbalanced.

The word "one" matters a lot to the Lord, and to God's Son, Jesus. The Father and Son both spoke about unity. They knew the scientific properties of the power behind human accord, long before humanity even knew there was such a thing as "Science." It is the ultimate solution to any problem:

Get yourselves together, come to agreement, listen to each other.

I believe the case could be made, that God has promised great effectiveness for us, if we could agree.

Human unity may be described as the Pearl of Great Price - - - the Golden Rule - - - the Fountain of Youth - - - the Key to Unlocking the Secrets of the Universe.

Oh . . . how we fight with vigor, the idea that we should actually get along! It is, simply put, the desire of all parents. It is the desire of our eternal, Heavenly Father. I believe it makes Him sick to the stomach when we fight each other so ardently.

In the reading, Paul reminds us that there was one parent from which we all came. That is an interesting point, and there are some genealogical fascinations in studying that concept further.

Adam and Eve (the two shall be "one") were that first parent. Surely they had a sense of their critical role. They may have seen the rapid growth of the population, and although the invention of formal mathematics was still millennia away, they must have realized that, in short order, humanity would be filling the planet, to the horizons and beyond. Maybe there were the beginnings of little cities, even while Adam and Eve lived.

They saw how Cain and Abel were . . . and had moments of dread, imagining what it would be like if there were multitudes of their children fighting, and killing, one another.

The answer is in unity. As painful as it may be to contemplate, that simply is the way it is, and the way it has to be.

We do better when we serve each other, and listen to each other. Disagreement does not indicate a failure of some people to understand facts, or Science. Disagreement indicates that we're not listening.

That's all.

And when children are fighting . . . it is natural for the parent to take the side of the younger one, the smaller one, the more vulnerable one, the less experienced one . . . the less educated one. Let's remember that.

One parent. One God. One Family of Men and Women. Pretty simple.