“May our hearts beat in unison”. This is, perhaps, the most profound of all the petitions in the Unity Prayer. It takes us right to the heart of Christianity, no pun intended. And what is that?
That we may love God as He loves us
To do this, we must be nothing short of divine. We must transcend our humanity and be transformed from our human nature to the very nature of God, the divine nature (II Peter 1:4, I John 3:2, Rom 5:2). We must have a God relationship with God instead of a human relationship. We have true friendship with God (John 15:12-15).
We are called to reconciliation with God (II Cor 5:17-21) but how can one reconcile a mosquito and a human? Are we any closer to God than mosquitoes are to us?
This is the great miracle of Christianity – that by the power of Grace, the effect of Grace, the action of the Holy Spirit in our life received at baptism, we are transformed into the very nature of God so that we can love God with same love with which God has loved within Himself as the eternal Trinity (John 15:9-10, 17:22-26). Listen to Jesus’ explanation of His prayer to us in the Unity prayer, “May our hearts beat in unison:”
Jesus: “I let Myself be known to you as true God and true Man. Not only you, but all those who eat My Body and drink My Blood. As true God, I penetrate your heart and as true Man, I speak to you because My human Heart beats at the same rhythm as My Divinity. Your heart beats to the same rhythm as My Heart. Do you know what this means? It means that you participate in My Divinity.
The Spiritual Diary (First Edition); Elizabeth Kindelmann; p. 203
This is why Christianity is not just one of many religions. No other religion does this. It is why Grace is everything to Christianity, is essential for the renewal of the Church, and why the Flame of Love, as the Movement of Grace, is so critical for our times.
Without this realization, we can fall into either of two ditches. The first is the position taken by some of the early leaders of The Reformation, viz., that we can do no good. Jesus’ blood covers our sins and that is all. Humanity is hopelessly wounded and redeemed by the blood of Jesus. They got the redemption part right – that Jesus paid the debt of our sins which we cannot pay ourselves – but that doesn’t fix the problem of why we sinned in the first place. Besides Redemption, we need Sanctification; we need to fix the underlying problem and be made holy. Don’t we pray, “That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ”? We are only made worthy by the life of Jesus, who is worthy, within us, i.e., Grace.
The other more dangerous ditch is the one prevalent today – that we are already good enough. We feed ourselves on self-esteem, go out of our way to ensure no one feels guilty or ashamed, and generally look at ourselves as good people. All the problems we see in the world must be caused by somebody else. In fact, when Christianity attempts to call people to a higher morality, we hear the retort, “who are you to tell us what to do; there are plenty of good people in the world who aren’t Christians.”
The problem here is once again twofold. That good they are referring to is not good enough. If it was, why has it failed to overcome evil in the entire history of our existence? The second problem is that we, as Christians, have often failed to show the effect of Grace but rather settle for the same kind of good as everyone else. “Be a good person and go to Church on Sunday.” That’s a distant second best to “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48).
When we Christians settle for that human good, we are not showing the face of Jesus to the world. We are then loving God with only an inadequate human love and are not living a true friendship with Him – loving as He loves, good as He is good. We can only do this by living in Grace and thus showing the effect of grace to all of humanity. This is why the Church and the world desperately need The Flame of Love. Yes, Lord Jesus, may our hearts beat in unison. Amen.
Quotations from the Diary
p203: Jesus: “I let Myself be known to you as true God and true Man. Not only you, but all those who eat My Body and drink My Blood. As true God, I penetrate your heart and as true Man, I speak to you because My human Heart beats at the same rhythm as My Divinity. Your heart beats to the same rhythm as My Heart. Do you know what this means? It means that you participate in My Divinity.
All who feel with Me and whose thoughts are My thoughts will receive this participation. Whoever lives this way can only bless. This blessing increases the effect of My work of Redemption. This effect makes you saints. You see, this blessing is an eternal circular movement between Heaven and earth. Your sacrifices unceasingly rise up to Me and I shower My abundant graces upon you and upon all who dedicate themselves for the glory of My Holy Name.”
p142: Jesus: “You see why I say, ‘Do not leave Me alone!’ [The subject was remaining in the cold church for adoration] Let Me give you abundant graces which are stored up in the immeasurable love of My Heart. May our souls be in harmony. May our hearts beat to the same rhythm. Draw many souls to Me. May our hands gather in unity. . . .”
Flame of Love Basics Series: The Unity Prayer