I was hosting a family get together for the holidays so I bought this bouquet of flowers from the most upscale florist in my area, the supermarket.  It had all the required flowers and was very pleasing to the eyes for a few days.  Just about the time some of the flowers were beginning to suffer from extreme overexposure to my gracious hospitality I thought I would take some photos before I had to dispose of them.  Of course I put them out of their misery in the most humane way possible and then I placed them lovingly into a double ply plastic coffin and rolled them out to the curb.  I still get misty eyed when I think of the service.

        While they were members of the land of the living I have to confess that I did rather enjoy them.  They were like a floral rainbow sent to add color to my normal days.  Their fragrance spread throughout my kitchen, as they added a pleasant delicate scent that mingled well with the aroma of my gourmet cooking.  And even now months after their untimely demise they are still bringing a smile to my face as they continue to live and spread some good cheer and beauty in my life.  Theirs was the gift of unity; they had the ability to capitalize on their differences, they gained strength by uniting and working together. 

        They were a team where each unique member worked together, a partnership of diverse individuals collaborating collectively toward a common goal, a fellowship of the dissimilar.  They deemphasized their differences and embraced each others distinctiveness as they continued to move on toward their goal of making my life richer.  Yet in spite of all their differences they were able to achieve a beautiful unity that served to strengthen and build up all who were lucky enough to meet them.  They each realized that they were all strings in this concert and no one can whistle a symphony.  It takes an orchestra to create true harmony and play this gorgeous song called unity.

        A famous conductor said, “The most difficult instrument to play is the second fiddle. To find a violinist who can play second fiddle with enthusiasm—that’s a problem. But if we have no second fiddles, we have no harmony.”  Perhaps that is why there is so much discord in our lives, our jobs, our homes, our marriages; no one wants to play second fiddle.  We constantly struggle for the most prominent positions; we fight to appear significant, we thrash about for status and fame and care not who we have to walk over to achieve the praise we crave.  All the while the team suffers in obscurity as we promote ourselves.  We spend our time whistling our pathetic tune when we could be playing in the great orchestra of live.  Remember, unity is a choice.

Something to think about:

• God wills a rich harmony, not a colorless uniformity.

• Faith makes the discords of the present the harmonies of the future.

• You cannot add to the peace and good will of the world if you fail to create an atmosphere of harmony and love right where you live and work.

• A major reason capable people fail to advance is that they don’t work well with their colleagues.

• Cooperate! Remember the banana? Every time it leaves the bunch it gets skinned.

• Team spirit: If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes real good, then we did it.

• A river is powerful because many drops of water have learned the secret of cooperation.

• Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.

Light is the task where many share the toil.
Rickey Moore