Comprehending that we are all part of one whole allows us to take down fear. Fear of comparison, fear of people who are different than me, fear of the enemy, fear that I'm not enough, fear that I must prove my worth, fear that I won't be seen, fear that I won't have enough, fear that I might die, and a myriad of other basic fears.
When we stop fearing, we are able to live with, rather than against the whole of life. We can make the crucial connections that make life meaningful.
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who helped to resolve the tragedy of the South African apartheid says, "We’ve always got to be recognizing that despite the aberrations, the fundamental thing about humanity, about humankind, about people, is that they are good, they were made good, and they really want to be good . . . scientists are discovering that our basic human nature is compassionate." (Tutu, Book of Joy)
When we no longer have enemies, when we can see that the people on both sides of the war are the same, then we begin to see ourselves and each other deeply.
We can see that at the core, underneath all the ways we label one another by race, color, religion, political faction, belief systems, gender, illness and even football teams; underneath all the ways we typically judge ourselves and others by how much wealth we have accumulated, how much prestige we have built, our careers, our family's lines, our character traits and so forth; beneath all these things, at the core we are all the same. We all have the same actual desires for peace, joy, freedom, and connection; we all thrive in a culture of love, light, beauty and acceptance. We are all part of the same amazing ocean of life, along with all of creation, and when we really understand that, it changes everything about how we see and live.
