On Unity, Liberty and Charity

Adapted from Miracles, the official publication of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Chaplaincy, West Visayas State University Medical Center, vol. II, 39.
Our life and faith challenges us to be ready to experience tough things and not just peace and tranquility. It even means quarrel and misunderstanding within our homes and families. Living a straight and dignified life demand openness to cruel encounters beyond just sweet talk and friendly communities. There is no better way to become better humans than to confront tensions that arise and learn the hard lessons in life. St. Augustine has enlightening thoughts about this reality: “In essential things unity, in nonessential things liberty, in all things charity.”
Liberty
Diversity is a fact in society. We are different from each other and since choice is the very essence of man’s dignity, oppositions and contradictions will be at the crossroads of our mission. Many will not approve of what we do and there will always be disagreements in our point of view. But St. Augustine’s words are gentle reminders that there are differences that we have to let go because they are trivial matters. According to William Coffin: “Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.”
Unity
In the midst of divisions, where do we stand? Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” In essential things, in means we have to go beyond the petty things differences but instead focus on life changing reasons. This will never be defined by how deep the unity is but rather how noble he causes are. Thieves could be excellently united but this does not make the objective admirable. The true essence of unity means having the guts to go against the pressures of the majority and the resolution to withstand the compelling voices of the loud and the rowdy. It is about having the spirit that will awaken our commitment to hold on and keep our courage and dedication despite the high stakes and unfavorable odds. It is to confront division with truth and battle malevolence with goodness.
Charity
One adage puts that love conquers all. In all things charity means being guided by love in every decision that we make. In his book The Prophet, Khalil Gibran writes: “When you love you should not say ‘God is in my heart,’ but rather, ‘I am in the heart of  God.’” True love is all about the willingness to die for the beloved. The blindness of the lover which we casually converse about is not about poor judgment but rather a perspective that we fail to see as spectators