Unity - January 20th, 2021

It's connection. It's humility. It's recognizing your position as an irreplaceable part of the whole. 

We have way more in common than we might think. Still, divisiveness can come in so many forms — some overt, some sneaky. 

We can quell these illusory divisions. We can do this by seeking the truth, by understanding our shared humanity, by becoming aware of each other's suffering and grace.

The stoics conceived of our experience through the analogy of the dog and the cart. We, as individuals, are represented by the dog, who is tied to the cart, which represents fate. 

As Gregory Hays writes in his introduction to his translation of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: 

"If the dog refuses to run along with the [cart] he will be dragged by it, yet the choice remains his: to run or to be dragged."

Whether you like it or not, the wagon continues to move. It always will.

We can run with it, and realize that even our opponents must face the same hard choices. 

In fact, the political polarization right now is the result of a fundamental misconception. The dichotomy is not between liberal and conservative. It is, as Steve Jobs declares in his biography, between the constructive and the destructive.

And, we can make all that is constructive be what St. Augustine called the common object of our love. 

We can do this by coming together. By setting our differences aside. By focusing on our interconnectedness.

in Nuu-chah-nulth culture, there is a saying. Heshook-ish Tsawalk. Everything is one.

We've heard the same ideas couched in different words today:

"With unity, we can do great things."