Division is not an aberration, but the central reality of Christian life, and our most persistent scandal. But is it, in fact, a “scandal”? Is there a way of thinking about the divisions not as wounds, but as individual facets of the same gem?

We flatter ourselves sometimes, imagining that our pains, struggles and sorrows are evidence that we are dealing with the “real world,” while religious people are indulging childish fantasies about angels and friends in heaven.