As I walked the forest trail this morning, I began to feel
into a new becoming of humanity.
It begins as we feel our own being as inherently valid and
valued.
We then embrace the diverse mosaic of humanity.
We don’t merely tolerate our differences, we celebrate
them.
I see this everywhere in the world and have been watching it
grow for years. Now, it overflows from all over the planet and encourages all
of us to feel the joy and the strength of our diversity.
I see the depth of complexity and diversity of the human
race as a wealth that we now consciously begin to explore and enjoy.
I see the ‘yes and’ celebration of our differences as a
positive way forward for all of us.
People, in their diverse cultures, with their diverse
languages and ways of seeing the world, organizing their societies, accessing
their connection to the divine Source of All That Is, have solutions for all of
us, gifts to bring to the table of human accomplishment and inspiration. People
in Saudi Arabia have solutions. People in China have solutions. People in India
and Iceland and Peru have solutions. These solutions, this beautiful stream of
ideas and ways of doing things, are what lead us to a better world, cleaner,
healthier, more peaceful for all of us, more sustainable and sane and pleasant
for us to live in.
I’ve been watching us grow more accepting of each other
since I was a child in the 1960’s. In the past two decades, this growing
acceptance of differences has strengthened and brought me a great sense of hope
for humanity. I now see this hope being fulfilled in my lifetime.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has always been,
since it was created in 1948, an aspirational document, a statement of our
vision for humanity. This doesn’t mean that we can never achieve what is
offered there for all of us to feel as our own. I believe that we can and we
will.
As we value each other, each individual in all of their
being, we add to humanity’s joy in being a diverse celebration of individuality
and diversity. We celebrate and value the experiences of the strong, the weak,
the able and disabled, the rich and the poor, the servers and the ones served,
the symphony of our various languages and worldviews, the beliefs and practices
of everyone – as long as no one is harmed.
We embrace the myriad ways we have found to love ourselves
and others. We delight in the diverse ways our fellow humans have created to
have a family.
We embrace the beauty of our human family in all of its
colours, seeing beauty in every face, honouring and respecting every single
human being on this blessed planet.
Imagine the feeling of coming home to this embrace – for all
of us. Imagine the planet-wide joy inherent in this celebration of the diverse
mosaic of human-kind.
We’ve never done this before. We’re doing it now.
It begins with each of us honouring our own individuality.
It moves from there to welcoming the individuality of every other human being
with whom we come into contact. It then extends to a celebration of humanity’s
depth and breadth of diversity and difference as a strength, an incalculable
asset.
We feel connected to our fellow humans, seeing allies
everywhere, as we understand our common cause at this time, which is our
planet, our home in this galaxy, in the void of space.
Always we have the invitation, all of us, to center
ourselves in our hearts, to find there the love and wisdom that are in every
human heart, to connect within ourselves with the heart of humanity which holds
peace and compassion.
Imagine the joy we will see in the faces around us and all
over our world as we celebrate together our differences, our diversity, our
individual beauty and our shared sense of purpose at this time.
