United We Stand

I have been thinking a bit lately about the idea of unity.  The Pope's visit to the area last week was inspiring, even to a Protestant such as me, in that I saw masses of people united in their welcome of the head of the Roman Catholic Church.  It reminded me that Christianity can still make a big splash at any given moment.  Francis's remained pretty clearly on message throughout his visit: we need to pull it together people.  He encouraged Congress to work together to govern with integrity.  He encouraged the UN to stop focusing so much on divisions and find ways to emphasize our common humanity.
The Pope very rarely sounded lofty and mystical, he often sounded rather like a remarkably compassionate humanist, which may sound like a condemnation to certain religious types, but I don't intend it to be.  In fact, I have been wondering lately if perhaps, in seeking the things of God, we haven't made a false and damaging assumption that there is a way to separate "spiritual" reality from mere humanity. Shakespeare's Hamlet says, "What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet to me what is this quintessence of dust?"
That is the place we can get stuck isn't it? Between the beauty and the depravity? Between hope and despair?  Humanity gives us ample reason to believe either one has taken control.  There is certainly evidence that we are the most sinful and rebellious of God's creatures, and there is reason to believe that we are also God's beloved children.  It is possible to be both at the same time, not because we have managed some cosmic trickery, but because of the immensity and immanence of God's love.
I have sometimes joked, since Francis became the Pope, that if the Roman Catholic Church would only let their priests be married men, I would sign up.  The truth, of course, is much more serious than that though.  In fact, while I may applaud Francis for representing the oldest stream of the Christian faith so well, I do still have many firmly held convictions that separate me from the Papacy.  I believe in a more democratic form of being the Church.  I do not believe in transubstantiation during the Eucharist, or in the immaculate conception, I do not give any special devotion to Saints or relics, I only hold two things as sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper), and probably most significantly to me personally, I believe in a different model of priesthood.  I do not speak to God for the people, or speak to the people for God, quite frankly, I'm not that important.  I do try to point people in the direction of God, and sort of act like a hype man for the Holy Spirit, but I'm pretty certain that anything I do or say that serves God is totally an act of grace.
That's really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the differences, but let me just tell you that doesn't matter anywhere near as much as the unity of the Body of Christ.  I'm willing to lay down all those differences and admit that they don't matter as much as I sometimes think they do.
Don't get me wrong, I like MY theology, I like MY way of being the church, I like MY part of the Body, and I don't really want to change, but I'm coming to see that, if there is any hope for our future, we're going to have to lay down our flags and banners and simply learn to be human beings.  That means white, black, Asian, that means gay and straight, that means rich and poor, that means national identity and political affiliation. And yes, most crucially it means religion too: Protestant and Catholic to be sure, but also Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, all of the big ones and the little ones to boot.  We can still have all of those distinctions, but we must learn to honor the common humanity that we all share.
Let's not worry about being perfect until we can manage to simply be human.