We Are Not Alone!!! Really!!!
In this country many of us celebrate the New Year on January 1st. As part of
our
shared interconnectedness it is important to me to acknowledge that many
other countries and religious traditions around the world have recently celebrated
their New Year too. For me, the New Year is a time to celebrate that each day
is a New Year; a new beginning!!! The New Year is a time, and a spirit, in
which we can celebrate family, the blessings in our lives, freedom, survival,
and whatever else we are grateful for in our lives. Amidst this celebratory
exterior lies the stark paradox of the abysmal loneliness and lack that we, as
people, can experience even in the midst of family, friends, and our six billion
neighbors and fellow humans. It is a time when feelings of isolation
intensify. It is a time when suicide rates soar!
It is in this context that our interconnectedness is so important to me. I
feel that a
large part of embracing our true interconnectedness also involves looking
squarely into the eyes and hearts of our loneliness, our vulnerability, our pain.
To say the very least this can be difficult to do when raised in any culture
that embraces independence and strength; both of which are defined as “I can
do it myself” and “I feel no pain”. Somewhere in our move toward emotional
health and belonging we began to understand that these values, if taken to heart,
translated to “I don't see or relate to myself so I certainly don't see or
relate to you!” When carried to the extreme we see the global market as it is
today where profit at any cost is the underlying value of transnational
companies and the people who are owned by them! Yes, that is what I meant to say!
In my opinion, connecting with our universal family involves being committed
to a
spirit of thanksgiving and magnanimity that embraces deeply loving ourselves,
deeply
acknowledging our power and, therefore, our ability to impact ourselves and
each other. None of this is easy. How often can we not even agree in our own
family about what is the right way, what is the right religion, what is the
right course of action? To deeply care we must deeply listen. To deeply listen we
must be deeply committed to the reality that we will run headlong into our own
blindspots and unresolved pain and terror, and we will pause and breathe
deeply and give thanks for the awareness that will heal us and bring us together.
In this process we will open to the even larger reality that family is defined
beyond bloodlines. Family is defined by a reality that embodies a deep caring
for life and all that life involves. Family involves greeting all the people
I know, and don't know, as mirrors of who I am in each moment, and honoring
this experience as a sacred encounter. That kind of openness moves us beyond
boundaries of judgment, personality, appearance, nationality, or religion to the
expansiveness that mirrors the Love that has no opposite. There is no fear, no
hatred, no greed, no belief in scarcity. Each thought, each action embodying
this consciousness makes this possibility a living reality. By what I see
happening in the world today I see us moving closer and closer to embracing this
magnanimity and thanksgiving as a worldwide value. I truly give thanks for this
spirit of magnanimity and for all the steps along the way. I truly give
thanks for a new year each day; for our interconnectedness each moment! We truly
are not alone!!!
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