Some cultures, such as found in certain Islamic majority countries, are explicit in the religious roots of their quest for harmony. Some like Confucius based cultures are not. Western culture has moved away from its previous more explicitly based Christian cultural foundation. In the west today we tend to forget how Christianity informs our quest for harmony.
Christianity, like most, if not all the world’s great religions, believes that God “loves” humanity. It is highly unlikely that a God who loves humans would leave them without guidance as to how to achieve peace and harmony. There has to be a mechanism for God to communicate with us. God would not leave His children alone, lost in the dark.

Christians believe that God has communicated to us in revelation: general revelation such as the world around us, particular revelation in the inspired words of the scriptures and the perfect revelation in the person of Jesus Christ.

Humans desire and seek after lives of harmony. God knows that. He reveals in scripture, Christian history, and our personal experiences with Christ, the Way of Harmony. That is God reveals to us how to live in harmony with each other, the universe and everything. God not only reveals to us what that would look like, but also suggests pathways to achieve harmony. God reveals to us different things we can do to achieve a life of harmony.

The Trinity

It should come as no surprise that Christianity is concerned with harmony. At the heart of the Christian tradition is of course the Trinitarian concept of God. Christians understand God as one being in three persons. This is called a mystery because it is impossible for us to fully understand how this works.

What are the implications of the Trinity for the quest for harmony? The Christian faith teaches that even before time was created God was Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A preexisting and eternal loving, relational harmony.

The Trinity was and is three persons in one being, living and loving in perfect harmony from before all time and for all time. What then is the implication that God the creator of the universe was and is forever and all time a harmony? What are the implications of the Christian teaching that humans are made in the image and likeness of God?

What does it mean that we have been made in the image and likeness of a being which is a harmony?

Genesis as expansive harmony

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. (Genesis 1:1-4, ESV)
Then god continued to create, periodically stopping along the way to see that “it was good”. Towards the end of the 6th day God created Humanity.

After God had created the universe,  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesisn1:31, ESV)
Note that when God surveyed all that He had made He said it was very good. God was talking not only about the parts of creation but the way they all worked together, in harmony.

At the first God created a garden. Humans to tend the garden. Plants and fruit for humans to eat. And it was very good. We have a picture of a beautiful place where man and woman lived in harmony with the earth. With humans taking care of the needs of the earth and the earth taking care of the needs of the humans. God was there to walk with and talk with and enjoy the company of the humans. All was in harmony. Humans with each other, with nature, and with God.

Of course something went wrong. What was created to exist in sustained harmony went horribly wrong. Now the relationships of men and women are not harmonious, not right. The relationships among humans, among nations are not right. There is greed, selfishness, power abuse and oppression. We are cut off and at odds with God and His original plan for us to live beautiful, peaceful, harmonious lives. Even nature seems broken.