One: One as on the Same Page/One Accord

 One as on the same page:

One Accord:

In the old days, people used expressions like 'one accord.' It is much more common in our present-day to hear expressions like 'on the same page.' Either way, the synchronicity is the same. We think of the inner ear as being responsible for the balance of the whole body, but the inner ear works with one accord along with other members of the body to achieve balance. Arms, legs, spine, and even the little toe are in synchronicity. They are on the same page. In a peace accord, many nations come together and agree on one cause. Their thoughts and hopes are on the same page. They are in one accord. When the members of that accord speak, they each speak of peace. Acts 5:12 “and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.”

People can be lumped together and classified by the thoughts they share and the words they speak. They sound so much alike that we can immediately recognize to whom they belong. Think of the people you know, and test your knowledge of them. What are the words that most often come out of their mouths? In my life, I have found it quite common for one person to say to another, “You always say that.” Actions aside, we may say with certainty that the things a person most often says are the things that define that person. When many people, as a group, speak and assert the same things, identification is both easy and inevitable. Acts 2:1 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”

When people are on the same page, we may look at any number of them and compare their words and deeds with others of their group. Their words dictate their deeds because their words are an accurate expression of the thoughts of their hearts. Many things may be determined by the words that people speak in common. Foremost, if they share the same words, they share the same thoughts. Those thoughts will include the shared beliefs and desires of the group. You will not hear an Atheist champion the beliefs and desires of a Christian. The same is true for Christians, their words and deeds are not those of the Atheist mindset. You will hear the Christian speak Christian words, and you may know the Christian, in all certainty, by the words they share in common. Acts 1:14 “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”

Back in the days of the arcade, you could look into any arcade and see it filled with like-minded gamers, each at their favorite machine. When they spoke, they spoke in the language of games. You knew them for what they were. Likewise, surfers developed their own unique language. We could close our eyes and listen to hippies speak. Their language gave them away. Each body whole had its own clearly identifiable language. The language they shared in common was the mark of who they belonged to. Similarly, they would congregate in their own places. Gamers went to the arcades, and surfers went to the beach. It is no wonder we find Christians congregating in their own places. We find them in temples and churches. It's only natural that they would gather to share the things they hold in common. Acts 2:46 “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple.”

Like-minded people go to the same places. Like-minded people say and think the same things for the same reasons. Language and communication, by their very fundamental natures, exist by way of what is known and shared in common. The common bond of any group is expressed in the information they receive and the messages they broadcast. Acts 4:24 “And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord.” Acts 8:6 “And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake.”

Each body whole is like a sun around which the planets find their orbits. The electromagnetic energies of the sun pierce and connect the planets so that even the outlying planets share the energies known by the closest. Those energies are the beliefs of the members. When planets send messages, they are the energies that fill them. Each planet tells the others, I believe in the sun. Similarly, each planet is orbited by a moon. That moon is desire. Belief and desire go hand in hand. The same energies that bind the planets bind the moons. All that an individual believes, an individual desires. The energies of the body whole are expressed in the members as a shared knowledge, a shared language, and a shared desire. Acts 15:25 “It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord.”

The furthest planet may register a sense of cool satisfaction while the closest planet may burn with joy. Therefore, satisfaction is a lesser degree of the same joy. The light of the sun may not illuminate the furthest planet the way it does the nearest, and the outlier may be tempted to dismiss the light altogether, but that accounts only for what it sees. The same energies that fill the nearest fill the furthest. There can be joy in that knowledge just as there can be faith in the light dimly seen. To be on the same page maintains both joy and faith. Philippians 2:2 “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”