separation vs unity

It occurs to me this morning that, for the most part, it is not physical distance that separates us but rather divergent ambitions, purposes of action, and principles.  I believe that we can have different ambitions, callings, and motivations, while still maintaining harmony and consonance.  As a Christian, I believe that the Love of God, and our Love for each other in God, is the holding power of the balance of our differences and unity.  If Christians are to have the mind of Christ than we each fully have the power to be of the same mind.  But this takes intent effort.  Ahh... let us be one as Jesus prayed that we would be, and as the Apostles repeatedly encouraged us to be.

John 17 (NIV)
11b Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.


Philippians 2:1-16aGood News Translation (GNT)
 1 Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another. 2 I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. 3 Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. 4 And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own. 5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had:

 6 He always had the nature of God,
      but he did not think that by force he should try to remain[b] equal with God.
 7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had,
      and took the nature of a servant.
   He became like a human being
      and appeared in human likeness.
 8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—
      his death on the cross.
 9 For this reason God raised him to the highest place above
      and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
 10 And so, in honor of the name of Jesus
      all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below
      will fall on their knees,
 11 and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

 12 So then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation, 13 because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.
 14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky, 16 as you offer them the message of life.

1 John 4:7-17 Good News Translation (GNT)

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.⁹ And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.¹⁰ This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.

¹¹ Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another.^{12 (A)}No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us.
¹³ We are sure that we live in union with God and that he lives in union with us, because he has given us his Spirit.¹⁴ And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.¹⁵ If we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we live in union with God and God lives in union with us.¹⁶ And we ourselves know and believe the love which God has for us.
God is love, and those who live in love live in union with God and God lives in union with them.¹⁷ Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the Judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's.

1 John 4:19-21  Good News Translation (GNT)

¹⁹ We love because God first loved us.²⁰ If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen.²¹ The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love others also.