Connection: The Thread of Life
It is imperative that we question and place ourselves in the midst of all that is.
Only then can we begin to see how we are connected to each other and what lies beyond us.
-The Miracle Collectors
(Joan) I love connecting…with people, with places, with ideas...We have so much to learn from each other, so many ways we can support each other, and so many paths we can explore. Why wouldn’t we want to make as many connections as possible? I enjoy finding pearls of connection with new acquaintances and am so often rewarded when we share a common interest or, serendipitously, I can put one person in touch with another who has the skills they are looking for at that moment in their life. Participating in this continuous cycle of connection brings me joy.
This ongoing desire for connection led me to a new book that challenges our predominant philosophy of dualism where everything can be categorized on either end of a spectrum like good or bad. Instead it suggests replacing dualism with the age old notion of monism: a philosophy where we are all part of the same universe. Monism believes that all things in existence are part of the same unified oneness. What affects one of us, affects all of us. I think it is a philosophy that MLK would have gotten behind as he worked tirelessly to end segregation and poverty.
Miracles provide a good example of monism, not only because miracles are available to all of us, but because they erase the differences between people long enough to allow ourselves to find our commonality with each other instead of being burdened with seeing only our disparities. It is a way we can begin to recognize that we are all part of a greater whole.
Sometimes this miraculous connection occurs when we are in the right place at the right time and say yes to making a difference in the life of another. It happened in Denver, and in Orlando, and it happens in the acts of good Samaritans every day when we see someone in need and stop to offer assistance. This was brought home to me over the holidays when my son David, whose own miracle saved his life* and who is now an emergency physician, came upon a serious ski accident victim. He worked on the man for over an hour, gloves off in the freezing cold, stabilizing him for transport down the mountain and to the nearest hospital.
The connections between us transcend political opinions, race, religion, family status, or any other labels we choose to don. We are all imperfect members of the human race, connected to each other, to God, and to the Universe. The arrival of a new year gives us a renewed opportunity to choose how we will practice this art of connection going forward and as Buber says, "really live."
*Recounted in detail in The Miracle Chase: Three Women, Three Miracles, and a Ten Year Journey of Discovery and Friendship