Interdependence
“The
whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the
interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one
another, and all involved in one another.”
Thomas
Merton
I
have read that a grove of aspen trees shares one root system. While
they appear to be many individual trees, they are, in fact, many
manifestations of one organism. Our own bodies are composed of
seventy trillion cells, give or take, and all of them, though they
have different functions, communicate with one another at all times,
and function together as a whole.
For
the last couple of weeks, I have had men, perfect strangers, working
on my home—putting on a new roof, new gutters, and repairing a
leaky basement. These are tasks that I cannot do. I don't have the
skills, or the knowledge base, or the physical strength. I depend on
others to do what I cannot, just as a heart cell depends upon a liver
cell to filter out contaminants.
Interdependence
is how our bodies operate. Our hands and feet are equally important
for different reasons; all our individual parts have essential
functions necessary for the smooth operation of the whole. When one
is lopped off, or becomes dysfunctional, the whole body must adapt or
die.
Humanity
is equally interdependent, and not just upon one another, but upon
all the living systems that together make up Earth. We need birds and
bees, we need elk and bison, we need coral reefs and oyster beds, we
need wild flowers and hickory trees. All have important roles in the
ecology of a living planet. And, we need one another, whether black
or brown, cream or pink, humanity shares a common root system and
each individual is integral to the whole. That awareness is
fundamental to our common survival.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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