Communicate
“We need
to look for what we have in common. And finding it, not leave or
pretend, but dare to be who we are in public, before family and
strangers, until our ancestors come in dreams to remind us that we
are all just pilgrims who need each other, travelers who carry bits
of truth and wisdom we don't understand until brought to life between
us. We need to commune in this way, so we can endure what life has to
offer and grow.”
Mark Nepo
(“Voices of the World,” Mark's Weekly Reflection)
In his weekly reflection,
Mark Nepo tells the story of his recent conference in Barcelona,
Spain. The translator failed to show, so no one could understand what
others were saying, including Mark, who does not speak Spanish or any
of the other languages represented there. Somehow, simply because
they wanted to be there with one another, and say what they had come
to say, regardless of the fact that no one could comprehend the
words, they communicated on a different level. Through body language,
eye contact, hand gestures, heart-to-heart—they remained in
communication and reached beyond speech to their shared humanity.
This weekend in
Charlottesville, VA, and in Washington, DC, there will be marches and
counter-marches—white supremacists and anti-fascists, and of
course, police standing anxiously between them. No one wants a repeat
of last year's violence and tragedy. Our country has been a wildfire of competing ideologies ever since, because no one is listening to
anyone else—in essence, we speak different languages. And, unlike
what happened with Mark's group in Barcelona, we have stopped trying
to understand one another. Body language on all sides is full of
scorn and hatred. I understand this to a degree; the idea of the KKK
and neo-Nazis marching in the streets is absolutely repugnant to me,
and I certainly don't agree that white people are superior and should
be in charge of the world. It is, unfortunately, white people who
have gotten us to this place of terrible discord.
What we're missing is our
shared humanity. We are missing the desire to reach across the
divide, and listen to a language we don't understand. We have
disconnected our hearts from a conversation we view as too horrifying
to contemplate. We somehow believe that hurling insults and racist
slurs at one another will solve the problem. Take a moment to think
about that. What, beyond adrenalin, is to be accomplished by all this
hatred?
There is legitimate cause
for anger, but anger will not achieve the change we want. Rage breeds
its own, and violence results in dead children. Let us, please, put
our hands together, and look into the eyes of otherness with
something besides hate. We might just catch a glimpse of another
human being whose soul is in turmoil just like our own. That is where
we are not different, but exactly the same.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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