Disaster Can Bring Us Together
A commonality of the recently disaster-struck areas in Appalachia and Southern California are the tales of communities coming together.
Neighbors who had not met, faced with a challenge, facing it together.
Yes, disaster can bring us together.
But—why wait for that?
We may gather in communion now. Gather in play and delight. Gather for the mundane.
We will never be sovereign as individuals. We can be sovereign only through interdependence. Interdependence honors each person's sovereignty in their beliefs. Interdependence practices cooperation which transcends all well-held beliefs.
A well-held belief is one which I hold and practice for myself. A poorly-held belief is one which applies to others.
The world is materially resourced with a glut of abundance. I have never before been so empowered to pursue exactly what is right for me. I have never been so free of the need to be surrounded by those who believe what I believe.
I hold my beliefs in a Way of Devotion, and everywhere I go, a diverse village forms, a happy family, and I find that respect does not depend upon sameness of opinion or experience, but on curiosity, on my willingness to honor that the other has at their disposal the same freedom I have in my own hands, and that they hold it in their way.
Those who turn away from interdependence in their hatred are not for me. Those who control to create sameness can have their sameness; my attention is for unity.
My attention is for distributing my resources and weaving community. I make a meal for myself, my housemate, whatever friends will stop by. I notice the girl in my row on the plane is throwing up and offer her pepto bismol. I wrestle on the floor with a stranger's young child in town.
I have the technology of comfortable closeness, the way of trust that garners trust, a steadying hand for a fellow hiker as we pass each other on a narrow way.
Living in close community is a Timeless Technology I may recognize, apply, practice, live into every here and now. I teach you the Way, and trust you with how that looks.
