Excerpt #32 from my book, Interconnected, Interrelated & Interdependent, Like It or Not:
WE ARE THIS WORLD — UNITING
Think not that your contribution is unimportant.
Be it large or small, it is beyond important — it is crucial.
As a seemingly insignificant ingredient can drastically affect the outcome of a recipe, so too can your input in this effort.
The predicament in which we find ourselves today has resulted, not from too much participation, but from too little.
Seek others who share your concerns.
You will find them everywhere silently waiting as George Elliot wrote: ‘’There is a roar on the other side of silence.”
Speak of the hopes humanity holds in common and to which it instinctively responds: freedom, peace, and security.
Show how these are all threatened today by primitive mentalities associated with the primitive origins of our brains.
Make it clear that our future is dependent upon the decisions we make now.
Stress the role of our individual choices in the determination of our collective future.
Speak of a way of being that serves all of humanity.
Avoid ideology that invites conflict.
Speak of the transformation you envision:
— one that seeks national security, not by the escalation of armaments, but through reconciliation in relationships among people and nations;
— one that seeks a sound economy, not by competing with each other for short-term gains, but by working together for sustainable benefits;
— one that does not deplete and exhaust our resources but respects the natural systems that sustain the web of life and;
— one that seeks a democracy characterized, not by crippling partisanship, but by just resolutions derived from diverse input.
“United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do.” (John F. Kennedy)
There will only be a small percentage of you who will respond to this call.
For you courageous ones, new to this journey, it will be arduous.
Though your vision and intentions will be accepted as desirable, you will be repeatedly reminded of the futility of your efforts and the hopelessness of your task.
Nevertheless, proceed as others have before you, accomplishing challenges once thought impossible.
Above all, remain true to your vision, for the swathe you cut will enable others to follow.
Small groups will form of those who believe in and share your vision.
As their efforts expand, opportunities will increase for others to enlist their participation.
These groups will serve as role models, exemplifying and popularizing the vision, and its acceptance will continue to grow.
“After a time of decay comes the turning point.
“The powerful light that has been banished returns.
“There is movement, but it is not brought about by force.
“The movement is natural, arising spontaneously.
“For this reason the transformation of the old becomes easy.
“The old is discarded and the new is introduced.
“Both measures accord with the time; therefore no harm results.
“Societies of people sharing the same views are formed.
“But since these groups come together in full public knowledge and are in harmony with the time, all selfish separatist tendencies are excluded, and no mistake is made. (I Ching)
The vision of a cooperative civilization can be achieved.
Countless people everywhere seek this, and some achieve it.
It is time that humanity rises to a higher level of existence before it’s too late.
As Thomas Jefferson noted:
“Cooperation is a state of mind. There is little hope for progress until we make this discovery and act upon this knowledge.”
Those who are convinced of this, and there are many, must join together around beliefs they hold in common.
For this is a transformation that must percolate upwards from an enlightened people before it can ever trickle down from an elected leadership.
We are capable of unimaginable accomplishments; we need only to begin.
At this juncture in the history of our civilization, there exists no greater challenge.
For ourselves and for the future of our world, let us begin now.