St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote the great booklet Uniformity with God’s Will. It got me thinking about seeking what God wants from us and the way we phrase it. Typically we hear about conforming our will to God’s. So when I read the title of his work it got me thinking more seriously about word choice.
Conformity or uniformity? Or is there even a real difference?
I always thought conformity was a fine word to use. Conforming your will to what God wills sounded good to me.
But through uniformity with God’s Will we are making our will uniform with His, which is a positive and peaceful approach. Conformity, on the other hand, connotes a grudging and reluctant attitude.
Sometimes we feel we’re simply “conforming” to God’s Will, particularly when resisting temptations. But uniformity to His Will is our wanting of all that God wants, not merely doing what we are supposed to do.
Conformity or uniformity. Is there any difference to you?
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I can see how uniformity, inspired by a selfless love for God, is a higher ideal than merely conforming to God’s will, as if it were something imposed on us arbitrarily from without. But it’s not possible to substitute English words based on “uniform” in every situation where words derived from “conform” are used. There is no verb “to uniform,” while the verb “to conform” makes perfect sense. I also suspect that conforming our will to God’s, even when our fallen nature objects, is the normal starting point for ordinary Christians. I heard Fr. Mayer say on Monday, “We should pray the way we can, not the way we can’t.” Possessing uniformity of mind and heart is a great accomplishment, first of God’s grace but then also of the person who says “yes” to God’s initiative within them; until that deep mystical union is reached, plodding along in conformity is heading in the right direction.