Sunday's speaker at church began by talking about his family tree. Apparently, he has photos on his kitchen wall, going back generations. He knows all the names and faces of his ancestors and lives with them every day. He acknowledged that most people don't know their family history the way he does. I was reminded of all those commercials for ancestry.com or family tree websites that feature people talking about how they had no idea they were Native American or thought they were German and found they were Irish instead.
He went on to talk about how some issues divide us, versus issues that unite (politics is a definite divider and he joked about our silly behavior when it comes to social media and our varying viewpoints). He quoted a social media post as saying:
"Your beliefs are not the problem. What you want ME to believe is the problem."
With that, he noted that we do not need to take away another's freedom in order to express our own. He found it interesting that many completely different religions all hold a similar variation of "The Golden Rule" and quoted various examples found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and others.
Christianity: "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."
- Luke 6:31, King James Version
Buddhism: "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."
- Udana-Varga 5:18
Confucianism: "Do not to others what you do not want them to do to you."
- Doctrine of the Mean
Hinduism: "This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you." - Mahabharata 5:1517
Islam: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself."
- Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths"
Judaism: "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
- Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. Old Testament) Leviticus 19:18
Native American Sprirituality: "All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One."
- Black Elk
Taoism: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss."
- Tai Shang Kan Yin P'ien
During a long road trip today, I listened to Eckhart Tolle, in
The Power of Now, talking about how we are all connected and how a sense of separation can cause much suffering.
I thought about Russ traveling all over with Nile Rodgers and Chic performing We Are Family, along with other hits, all over the world. I thought about how there are people all over the world who seek to unite, despite all the news reports of incidents to the contrary. I saw this little plaque for sale in a store:
This week, I'll remember that we have friends all over the world who we don't know. We may look different, practice a different religion, have a different culture, or speak a different language. We may look similar, but have more or less social status. Despite any labels or categories that seem to separate us, I know that the truth is that we are united. I know we all belong to the same human family. I choose to believe that there are people all over the world who are rooting themselves in love. I know this is real, and powerful, and that this unites us.
"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists." - A Course in Miracles
This week, I'll remember The Golden Rule.
Namaste,
T
